Manish Narwal won a medal for the second straight Paralympics with a silver in the men's 10m air pistol standing SH1 on Friday.
The 22-year-old Indian recovered from a slow start to finish second with a score of 234.9, missing out on gold after a series of sub-10 shots after taking the lead. South Korea's Jo Jeongdu won gold with a total of 237.4 while China's Yang Chao won bronze.
This is his second Paralympic medal, after winning gold in the P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 at Tokyo. It was also a sort of redemption after not doing well in the 10m air pistol SH1 final in Tokyo after a good qualification.
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Here in this final, Narwal had an indifferent start, and placed sixth and fifth after the first two series of shots respectively. But he steadily climbed up into a medal position once the eliminations began. It was a good fightback and he even reached the gold position after 16 shots with a lead of 0.8 over the South Korean.
However, that's when Narwal's nerves faltered and a series of 9.9 and 9.8 saw him drop to second spot, where he remained for the rest of the final. In fact, he had just one shot of over 10 after this, as the gap between gold and silver widened. He stayed strong in the silver spot though, and despite an 8.9, he had enough to reach the Paralympics podium again.
Narwal is one of the Indian junior system's teen shooting prodigies. This medal adds to his tally as well as his sports-oriented family's. Narwal is the older brother of Indian international shooter Shiva Narwal, and he has competed in able-bodies shooting events with his brother as well.
The 22-year-old from Ballabhgarh in Haryana has a congenital impairment to his right hand, which had ended his dream of being a football player like his idol Lionel Messi. On the suggestion of a friend, Narwal's father took the boy to the TenX Shooting Academy and he picked this sport at the age of 16. Soon he had an Asian Games medal and in three years, he was a Paralympic champion with a record score.
He's continued in the same form internationally, becoming the world champion 10m pistol SH1 at September's World Shooting Para Sport Championships and the bronze at the Para Asian Games the next month.
The silver is Paris only adds to his already impressive credentials, not bad for a shooter who took the sport for fun without even knowing there were competitions like Paralympics where he could shine.