Indian para shooter Avani Lekhara wins 'Best Female Debut' award at 2021 Paralympic Sport Awards

2021 Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Avani Lekhara took the 'Best Female Debut' at the 2021 Paralympic Sport Awards. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced the awards on Thursday, December 16. Czech Republic's Boccia player Adam Peska bagged the 'Best Male Debut' award.

Indian shooter Avani Lekhara became the only female Paralympian to win two medals at the Paralympic Games. She clinched India's first gold medal in the women's 10m AR Air Rifle Standing SH1 at the 2021 Paralympics, equaling the World Record (249.6) in the process. It was India's first gold at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.

Avani Lekhara bagged a bronze medal in the women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 final at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics. Avani scored a 445.9 to settle for a third position finish.

"Looking back at the Paralympics, it still feels quite surreal. While the feeling still hasn't quite sunk in yet, there's unquestionably happiness within me. A sense of satisfaction that has come through executing perfectly after the enormous effort, hard work and dedication as a collective unit in all of the training sessions," said Avani Lekhara talking about her 2021 Paralympics success.

Avani Lekhara is elated on receiving 'Best Female Debut'

Avani revealed she feels surreal having won the 'Best Female Debut' at the 2021 Paralympic Sports Awards on Thursday. She is satisfied to have won the medals after enduring an uphill battle in her life over the years.

"It's an honour for me to win this award. The focus was always on giving my best shot, bringing home medals for my country and showing that anything is possible with hard work, dedication and passion. I went there, and I just thought 'take one shot at a time', and that's what I did. Just keeping my focus on the process, I was able to win a gold medal for my country," said Avani Lekhara after winning the 'Best Female Debut' honour.