Mona Agarwal Para Asian Games Gold Beats Avani Lekhara

Mona Agarwal’s Para Asian Games gold came on Monday, October 19, 2026, at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery in Nagoya. The 38-year-old edged two-time Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara, 250.0 to 249.6, in the women’s 10m air rifle standing event. The score set a new Para Asian Games record. Agarwal contracted polio at nine months and dedicated the medal to her late grandmother. 

Qualification record: She topped qualifying with 629.1, a new Para Asian Games mark for that round. In the final, she sat sixth after the second series, climbed into the top three in the elimination stage, and passed Lekhara in the last elimination series. 

India’s first medals: The 1-2 finish gave India its first medals of this edition. The team is chasing the 108 it won three years ago. 

Family backing: Her father, Prem Chand Agarwal, said four operations failed to improve her condition. Her paternal grandmother, Geeta Devi, paid for her upbringing from her savings and told her willpower would carry her through. She died 15 years ago. 

The switch to shooting: Agarwal first competed in discus, shot put and javelin. About five years ago, her husband, former wheelchair basketball player Ravindra Chaudhary, suffered a brain injury in a bike accident. She could no longer travel far to train. A shooting academy stood less than a kilometre from home, so she tried the sport. Holding the weight of the rifle was her first hurdle. 

Few shooters have risen this quickly. Agarwal made her Paralympic debut in Paris in 2024 and took bronze in the same 10m air rifle standing event where Lekhara won gold. This win puts her ahead of her teammate at the continental level. She is also a mother of two, seven-year-old Aarvi and five-year-old Avik. 

Agarwal is already looking ahead. In September, she won silver at the World Para Shooting Championship in Changwon, South Korea, and became the first Indian shooter to secure a place at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. The rest of India’s campaign in Nagoya will show whether the team can match its earlier haul.