Paris Paralympics: Swaroop Unhalkar fails to qualify for men’s 10m air rifle SH final after finishing 14th

Chateauroux (France): India's Swaroop Unhalkar missed a place in the final in the men's 10m air rifle standing (SH1) after finishing 14th in the qualification round with a score of 613.4 in the ongoing Paris Paralympics on Saturday.

The participants finishing top eight in the qualification round progress to the final. South Korea’s Park Jin-Ho, who is also a Paralympic qualification record holder with a score of 631.3 in 2021, finished first with a score of 624.4, followed by Denmark’s Martin Joergenson, who finished with 621.8 points and was closely followed by China’s Chao Dong who finished with a difference of 0.2 behind the Dane.

Unhalkar never climbed higher than 13th place and at one point dropped to 16th during the competition. The Kolhapur marksman, who was diagnosed with polio at an early age, leaving him paralysed in both legs, managed a decent second series with a score of 103.0 but struggled to maintain consistency. His scores of 101.8, 103.0, 101.7, 101.8, 102.4, and 102.7 totalled 613.4.

The SH1 category is designated for para shooters who can hold their gun without difficulty and can shoot either standing or sitting (in a wheelchair or chair).

Earlier on Friday, India won three medals in shooting in the ongoing Paralympics as Avni Lekhara and Mona Agarwal from Rajasthan won gold and bronze medals respectively, in the Women's 10m Air Rifle SH-1 and Manish Narwal clinched a silver medal in the men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 with a score of 234.9.

India are currently placed 18th in the Paris Paralympics medal tally with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals to their name.