Mona Agarwal Wins Gold at Asian Para Games 2026

The Indian team had an excellent opening at the Asian Para Games 2026 on Monday, October 19. Two Indian women bagged medals, namely gold and silver in the same event. Mona Agarwal gave India a reason to celebrate after taking gold in the Women's 10m Air Rifle event in Japan. She recorded a record score of 250.0 to secure the gold medal position. Closely following in her footsteps, Avani Lekhara scored 249.6 to clinch the silver medal spot for the country's shooting team.

The record Mona broke carried a familiar name. The old Games mark of 249.6 was Avani’s, set at the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, so a teammate has now edged past the number Avani shot on this same stage, and she equalled it again in Nagoya. During the qualifying stage, the outstanding performance of Mona saw her emerge first with a record-breaking score of 629.1. Avani followed closely in second position with a score of 626.4, and therefore both Indian shooters were assured of being among the top two before the medal shoot-out. The contest ended in a nail-biting finish that was separated by a 0.4-point gap.

For Mona, this gold has been building for a while. She bagged a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. She was momentarily leading in the finals but ended up finishing third with her last shot. She has not shied away from acknowledging how nervous she has been at the 2023 World Championships, as she has only missed securing a quota place by just 0.3. In the World Shooting Para Sport Championships that took place in Changwon, South Korea, last month, she claimed silver by scoring 250.0, falling behind the winner by only 0.2 points. This also secured a spot for India in the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games. Speaking after the championships, she expressed her hope to claim a gold medal in 2028.

Avani, the defending champion in this event and a two-time Paralympic gold medallist, matched her own Hangzhou score and still had to settle for silver, which says plenty about how high the bar in this category has been pushed. Her 249.7 in Paris remains the Paralympic record, so a second-place finish here is hardly a step back. Shooting events at the Games continue through October 23, and India’s shooters will be hoping the range keeps giving them days like this one.