Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India's first individual Olympic Games gold medallist Abhinav Bindra were among the first to congratulate shooters Manish Narwal and Singhraj, who won gold and silver respectively in the P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Saturday.
In what has been the best performance by Indian para athletes at the quadrennial showpiece, para shooters Narwal and Singhraj, along with rifle shooter Avani Lekhara, have erased the painful memories of 15 top Indian shooters firing blanks one after another at the Tokyo Olympics less than a month back.
In a series of tweets PM Modi said, "Glory from the Tokyo #Paralympics continues. Great accomplishment by the young and stupendously talented Manish Narwal. His winning the Gold Medal is a special moment for Indian sports. Congratulations to him. Best wishes for the coming times. #Praise4Para."
For Singhraj, PM tweeted, "The outstanding Singhraj Adhana does it again! He wins yet another medal, this time in the Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event. India rejoices due to his feat. Congrats to him. Wishing him the very best for the future endeavours. #Paralympics #Praise4Para."
Bindra, winner of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games gold in 10m air rifle, tweeted after the success of Narwal and Singhraj, "The greatest gift we as a nation can give to our Paralympic Team and champions is to use this moment as a way to make the disabled population in our country more inclusive. That would be amazing impact leveraging on the power of sport!"
In another tweet, Bindra said, "1-2 for India! The stuff of dreams...Gold for Manish Narwal with a Paralympic record in mixed 50m SH1! And Silver for Singhraj Adhana, his second medal of the #Tokyo2020 Paralympics. Just Incredible. Congratulations to both, we all are so proud #Praise4Para."
"What a wonderful moment to see two Indians winning both the Gold as well as Silver. #Gold for 19 yr old Manish Narwal #Silver for Singhraj Adhana. Make that 15 medals. Brilliant display from Team India at #Paralympics," tweeted former India cricketer Virender Sehwag.
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