More Gold For India! Abhinav Deshwal Strikes Gold With Record-Breaking Show At Deaflympics

(Credit: X)

Abhinav Deshwal delivered a standout performance at the Deaflympics on Sunday, winning India’s 15th shooting medal of the Games with a brilliant gold in the 25m pistol event.

In a nail-biting final, Abhinav edged out South Korea’s Seung Hwa Lee by a single point, finishing with 44 hits to Lee’s 43. Ukraine’s Serhii Formin claimed bronze, while the second Indian finalist, Chetan Hanmant Sapkal, ended the event in fifth place.

Abhinav set the tone early, opening the final with five perfect hits, then backing it up with another four hits in the second series. He remained locked in from there, hitting 18 of the next 20 shots, a run that included two more perfect five-hit series and two four-hit rounds.

He then produced two additional perfect series, followed by another four-hit round to maintain his lead. His final series — a three-hit effort, his lowest of the match — still proved enough to secure the gold by the narrowest possible margin.

Earlier in the day, Abhinav had already signalled his form by matching both the World Deaf Qualification record and the Deaflympics record, shooting 575-13x. Chetan had also impressed in qualifying, finishing second with 573-21x before falling short in the medal round.

(with PTI inputs)