Hat gifted by wife proves lucky charm for Paralympics medallist Shighraj Adhana

By IANS

TOKYO: A trilby hat gifted by his wife turned out to be the lucky charm for Indian pistol shooter Shighraj Adhana as he ended his campaign in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with a silver and bronze medal.

Singhraj, who won bronze in the 10m Air Pistol SH1 three days ago, bagged a silver medal in the P4 – Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 at the Tokyo Paralympic Games on Saturday. He finished second behind compatriot Manish Narwal (218) with a score of 216.7 in the final. Sergey Malyshev of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) took bronze with a score of 196.8.

“My hat is a gift from my wife, so my very lucky hat,” Singhraj explained after the Mixed 50m air pistol SHI final on Saturday. His wife had also sold her jewellery last year to help Singhraj set up a shooting range near his house so that he could continue to practice even during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both her gifts seems to have worked wonders as Singhraj now returns home with his double bonanza.

In a close final in the Mixed 50m Air Pistol event on Saturday, Narwal and Singhraj went neck-and-neck as they moved up from fourth and seventh place to bag gold and silver, the final few shots deciding the medals.

“The final was very difficult today. I decided (when I was) in third position, ‘Singhraj, good, please, stop, breathe, stop, OK’. ‘And one shot, only one shot, please. No other thought, my mind is slow’. And go again.”

Every shot is very difficult. One shot is very important, so my coach every time says ‘Singhraj, Manish, only one shot, one shot fired’.

Asked about the memories he will have from Tokyo besides the two medals, Singhraj said he will remember the people of Japan, the volunteers at the Games. “What is the best in Japan is the people over here. The people are very nice, the food is very good, and the competition was the best,” said the 39-year-old from Faridabad in Haryana.