Rubina Francis, the Indian shooter finished at the seventh position in the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 final of the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Tuesday. Rubina had 128.1 points and was eliminated in the seventh position at the Akasa Shooting Range.
The athletes in SH1 have an impairment in one arm or leg. Some shooters participate in a seating position whereas others compete in a standing position. Iran’s SarehJavanmardi backed the gold medal with a score of 239.2.
It was a challenge for Rubina as she shot a horror 6.6 in the first series. Inspite of this, she was placed fourth after the end of the 1st competition stage with 93.1 points. Rubina was the second shooter to be eliminated in the eight-women final.
Rubina started well in the qualifications to finish seventh with 560 points. At the end of the first series, she was in 13th place with 19 points. In the second series, she moved into sixth place after a total of 187 at the end. In the qualifications, she moved to third place with 282 points at the halfway stage. She scored 93 and 93 respectively and slipped to the seventh spot, in the next two series.
The 22-year-old shooter from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh was born with an impairment to her leg. She had earlier set the world record in the finals at the World Cup in Lima, Peru in June with238.1.She contracted Covid-19 while at the national training camp. Due to this, she was unable to get training for more than one month, until days before the World Cup event in Lima, Peru. She won gold in the women’s SH1 10m air pistol in the World Cup making India proud.
Rubina topped the qualifying round with a score of 572, setting a new Paralympic Games record for qualifying.
