Indian para shooter Mona Agarwal from Jaipur has secured a historic milestone on the global stage by clinching an individual silver medal at the Para World Shooting Championship held in Changwon, South Korea. Competing in the 10m air rifle standing event, she delivered an outstanding final score of 250.0 points to claim second place. This remarkable achievement confirmed her qualification quota for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games, making her the first shooter from India to seal a ticket for the upcoming edition. It also ensures her second consecutive appearance representing India at the prestigious quadrennial sporting showpiece following Paris.
Team gold triumph alongside Avani and Milli
The championship in Changwon saw remarkable performances from the Indian contingent across disciplines. Alongside her individual podium finish, Mona joined hands with Tokyo gold medallist Avani Lekhara and teammate Milli Shah in the R2 10m air rifle standing SH1 team competition. The trio dominated the scoreboard, registering an impressive combined total of 1878.6 points to claim the gold medal for India. In the fiercely contested individual final, Serbia's Kristina Trifunovic captured the gold medal, while Mona held her nerve to take home the silver and secure the coveted Olympic quota place.
From watching triumphs on television to standing on the podium
The journey that brought Mona to international sporting glory is deeply grounded in resilience. Years ago, she was confined to watching other athletes celebrate their triumphs on home television, dreaming of a day when she might carve a similar destiny. A turning point arrived during the Tokyo Paralympics when she watched Avani Lekhara secure a gold medal. Inspired by that triumph from her living room in Jaipur, Mona resolved that her wheelchair would not limit her ambitions and that she too could compete for her country. Driven by that breakthrough moment, she chose to enter the shooting arena and commit fully to the discipline.
Overcoming resource hurdles from volleyball to the rifle range
Before discovering competitive shooting, Mona had participated in volleyball. She eventually turned toward target sports and enrolled at the Eklavya Shooting Academy in Jaipur to learn the sport systematically. The early stages were fraught with serious logistical obstacles, as she lacked access to high-grade competitive shooting equipment. Until her breakthrough medal performance at the Paris Paralympics, she remained relatively unknown within the broader sports fraternity. Throughout these testing phases, her coach Yogesh Shekhawat provided steady tactical guidance, and Mona attributes much of her steady competitive rise directly to his mentorship.
A decorated trajectory across international ranges
Mona's ascent through national and international ranks has been marked by repeated success at junior and senior tiers. During the inaugural Para World Cup held in Delhi, she captured gold by outscoring Avani Lekhara, which earned her maiden ticket to the Paris Paralympics. At the Paris 2024 Games, she validated her pedigree on the biggest stage by claiming an individual bronze medal. Her international resume also includes a bronze medal at the WSPS World Cup in Novi Sad, Serbia, along with a bronze at the Para Shooting World Cup in 2023.
Bouncing back from narrow heartbreak to enter the history books
The road to securing a Los Angeles berth was not without heartbreak. In an earlier attempt, Mona had missed out on qualifying by a razor-thin margin of just 0.3 points. Rather than letting the narrow miss deter her, she refined her technical execution and delivered when it mattered most in Changwon, cementing her status as the first Indian shooter to book a quota for Los Angeles 2028. Her sporting milestones have earned her national recognition, including the prestigious Arjuna Award and the Maharaja Agrasen Global Icon Award. Her accomplishments on the range have also drawn personal commendations from the Prime Minister of India.
