NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Paris Paralympics gold medal winner Avani Lekhara for her splendid performance during a telephonic conversation.

Avani clinched India’s first gold at the Paris Paralympics after dominating the final of the women’s 10m air rifle. She ensured her place at the top of the podium with 249.7 points, which also marked her personal best performance in the event.

Her success marked the first instance where India had a double podium finish in the same event at the Paralympic Games. Mona Agarwal snatched the bronze medal in the same event.

PM Modi extended wishes to Avani for her exemplary feat during the phone call and said, “Avani many congratulations to you. You are constantly performing well and keep working hard.”

Avani thanked PM Modi for his wishes and revealed that his words of motivation helped her negate the pressure.

“This is my second Paralympics. I was a bit nervous. But you said that don’t play under the pressure of expectations and I followed it accordingly,” Avani said to PM Modi during the phone call.

On Sunday, PM Modi also held a telephonic conversation with Paris Paralympics bronze medallists Mona Agarwal, Preeti Pal, Rubina Francis, and silver medallist Manish Narwal. But Avani wasn’t able to join the call.

As of now, India has nine medals at the Paralympics two gold, three silver and four bronze medals.
Manish clinched the silver medal after securing 234.9 points in the men’s 10m air pistol SH1 pistol. He started the match on a good note, but in the middle, the Indian shooter dropped to the sixth. However, he didn’t lose hope and ended the event with a silver medal around his neck.

Francis finished third and bagged a bronze medal in the P2 – Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH-1 final.

Preeti secured third place and won the bronze medal after clocking 14.21 seconds in the 100m T35 event at the Paris Paralympics. She got her hands on her second medal in the ongoing Paralympics in the 200m T-35 race. Preeti delivered an eye-catching performance that saw her take away the bronze medal.

Athlete Nishad Kumar won the silver medal in the men’s high jump T47 event with a leap of 2.04m.

Yogesh Kathuniya bagged the eighth medal for team India following his silver medal triumph in the men’s Discus Throw F56 final.

Shuttler Nitesh Kumar outplayed Great Britain’s second-seeded Daniel Bethell to add a second gold to India’s medal tally in the men’s singles SL3 category. (ANI)