Chatearoux | Rubina Francis shot down India's fourth medal from the shooting range, showing tremendous calm and composure in a high-class field to clinch a bronze in the women's 10m air pistol SH1 event in the Paris Paralympics on Saturday.
Competing in a top-class field consisting of the defending champion and world record holder among others, the 25-year-old Rubina held her own to score a total of 211.1 for a third-place finish in the eight-woman final.
She had qualified for the final at seventh spot in the qualification round earlier in the day.
Iran's Javanmardi Sareh won her third successive Paralympics gold with a total score of 236.8 while world record holder Ozgan Aysel of Turkey took the silver with 231.1 in a fierce competition between the two favourites.
Rubina's medal was India's fourth in shooting and fifth overall at the Paris Paralympics. She is India's first woman pistol shooter to win a Paralympics medal.
She had secured the Paris Paralympics quota under the bipartite (wildcard) rule a few days before the contingent's departure for the French capital.
In SH1 class, athletes are able to hold their gun without difficulty and shoot from a standing or sitting position in a wheelchair or chair.
A daughter of mechanic in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Rubina was born with an impairment to her leg, and she took up the sport inspired by her admiration for legendary Indian shooter Gagan Narang’s Olympic achievements.
Her story is an example of resilience, determination, and the transformative power of sport in overcoming adversity.
She was competing in her second Paralympics, having finished seventh in the final in Tokyo three years ago.
Rubina was consistent all through the final. She was third at the end of stage 1 of 10 shots with 97.6 with Ozgan leading with 99.5.
The Indian briefly slipped to fourth spot at the end of the 14th shot. But, she recovered and returned to third sport in the next series of two shots.
On Friday, Avani Lekhara had created history by successfully defending her women's 10m air rifle gold medal which she had clinched in Tokyo Paralympics, with compatriot Mona Agarwal winning the bronze.
Manish Narwal then added a silver medal in the men's 10m air pistol (SH1).
In the qualification round, Rubina trailed the top-eight shooters for most part but picked up speed at the fag end to sneak into the medal round.
She was placed 14th after the first series of 10 shots in the qualifying round, but gradually moved up and clinched a spot in the eight-shooter final with a score of 556.
Born into a lower-middle-class family, Rubina faced the added obstacle of leg dysfunction. Her father Simon, initially a mechanic, struggled to support her growing passion for shooting due to financial constraints.
Her shooting journey began in 2015 as her determination and her father's tireless efforts led her to Gun for Glory Academy -- founded by Gagan Narang -- in 2017.
Under the mentorship of Jai Prakash Nautiyal and Subhash Rana, she made quick progress and was selected at the MP Shooting Academy.
At the MP Shooting Academy her skills flourished. She won a gold medal at the World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates in 2022.
Paris | India suffered heartbreak from the archery arena as Sarita Kumari's splendid run ended in quarterfinals, while armless wonder Sheetal Devi crashed out of the last-16 in the compound women's open category at the Paralympics here on Saturday.
Faridabad's Sarita, who qualified as ninth seed, had a dominating outings in the first and second rounds before top-seed Oznur Cure Girdi of Korea halted her dream run in the last eight.
Oznur, who smashed the world record to top the qualifying round with a score of 704 out of a maximum 720 points, shot three perfect 10s in the second end to take a healthy five-point lead.
Sarita took the third end and matched Oznur's 30 with a perfect fourth end, but the Turkey archer remained four points in the lead, riding on her strong starts and wrapped it up with a 29 in the fifth end.
Sheetal, who draws the arrow with her toes, endured a blip in the second end where she shot the 7-point red ring to go down to Tokyo silver medalist Mariana Zuniga of Chile 137-138 in the pre-quarters.
All eyes were on Asian Para Games double gold medalist Sheetal, who also had bettered the previous world record of 698 shooting 703, to get a bye into the last-16 round.
Sheetal started out on a positive note as she hit two X dropped one point to take the opening set 29-28.
But her 7-point in the second arrow gave the Chilean seasoned archer the much-needed opening as she won the second end 27-26 to make it level (55-all).
It was a neck-and-neck affair for the duo in the next eight arrows, before Mariana edged out Sheetal in the final arrow by shooting a 9 as the Paralympics debutant Sheetal slipped to the 8-ring to lose by one-point.
On a day second seed Sheetal suffered an early elimination, ninth seed Sarita put up a dominated from the start to down Italy's Eleonora Sarti 141-135 in a one-sided affair in her pre-quarters.
The ninth seeded Sarita, who won a team silver medal at the Asian Para Games last year, dropped just one point to take a four-point lead in the first end.
There was no looking back as she stretched the lead to five points in the second end where she shot one X (closer to the centre).
Her higher-ranked Italian rival pulled off two 10s and took the third end, but Sarita remained in control and sealed the issue with two solid ends.
Sarita earlier knocked out Nur Jannaton Abdul Jalil of Malaysia 138-124 in her first round clash.
In the open class, archers shoot from a sitting position at a distance of 50m at an 80cm five-ring target made up of the 10-6 point bands.
