Paralympic double medal-winning shooter Avani Lekhara becomes World No. 1

Avani Lekhara won two medals at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics last year. Since then, the ace Indian shooter has not had to look back. She has gone from strength to strength and the 20-year-old is now the World No. 1 in two disciplines, according to the World Shooting Para Sport Rankings.

The 20-year-old is the No. 1 in both the R2 - Women's 10m Air Rifle SH1 and the R8 - Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 shooting events.

Expressing her joy at achieving this feat, Lekhara tweeted:

"Very happy to have achieved the Number 1 World Ranking in both the R2 - 10M Air Rifle Women’s SH1 and R8 - 50M Rifle 3 Positions Women’s events. Immensely motivated by this achievement!"

India performed admirably in the recently concluded 2022 Para Shooting World Cup in Chateauroux, France. The para-shooting team finished second in the medal tally amongst 51 countries. They returned home with six gold, five silver and one bronze medal.

Lekhara led the victory charge with two gold medals at the event. She bagged a gold medal in the women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 category at the Chateauroux World Cup. She also registered a world record along the way after scoring 250.6 points on Tuesday (June 8).

Avani bettered her own world record of 249.6 to secure a 2024 Paris Paralympics berth.

The 20-year-old then extended her medal winning streak by fetching another gold medal in the women's R8 50m 3P SH1 event with a score of 458.3.

Twitter reacts as Shooter Avani Lekhara becomes World No 1:

Congratulatory messages poured in for Indian shooter Avani Lekhara.

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur hailed the World No 1.

Hardeep Singh Puri, an Indian politician and former Indian diplomat who is currently serving as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs in the Government of India, congratulated Avani.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore's official handle also greeted the 20-year-old achieving World No 1 ranking.