Avani Lekhara Wins ‘Best Female Debut’

Indian shooter Avani Lekhara bags the “Best Female Debut” honour at the 2021 Paralympic Awards for her sensational win of a gold medal at the Tokyo Games. On Thursday the 19-year-old Avani Lekhara’s crown added one more jewel as she won the Best Female Debut award in the 2021 Paralympic Sports Awards declared in a virtual ceremony. In 2012, at the age of just 12, Avani Lekhra’s life changed when she suffered paralysis due to an accident.

“It’s an honour for me to win this award. The focus was always on giving my best shot, bringing home medals for my country, and showing that anything is possible with hard work, dedication, and passion,” Avani said after triumphing the ‘Best Female Debut’ honour.

“I went there, and I just thought ‘take one shot at a time’, and that’s what I did. Just keeping my focus on the process, I was able to win a gold medal for my countime she added. Earlier, she was also honoured with the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, which occurs to be India’s top-most sporting honour.

Dutch Wheelchair Tennis player Diede de Groot and Swiss Wheelchair Racer Marcel Hug won the ‘Best Female Athlete’ and ‘Best Male Athlete’ awards serially.