Para shooter Sidhartha Babu earns ticket to 2024 Paris Paralympics, wins gold in Para Asian Games

Indian para shooter Sidhartha Babu performed in a fashionable manner in the 2023 Asian Para Games. He won the gold medal in the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 event on Thursday, October 26, in Hangzhou, China.

The Thiruvananthapuram-born accumulated a score of 247.7 to set a new Games record, surpassing South Korea's Kim Jae Yong's previous best of 241.3. He beat China's Chao Dong by a marginal score of 0.2 points. Dong missed the gold after his final shot marked 10.7, which was sufficient to pip the Indian from the top spot.

With this sensational feat, Sidhartha Babu cemented his spot at the 2024 Paris Paralympics next year. He joins fellow Indian shooter Avani Lekhara to qualify for the prestigious global event for para athletes. Lekhara, who won gold in the R2 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 on Day 1, finished in eighth position in the mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 event with 119.6 points.

Unhalkar was the only third Indian para shooter to participate in this event along with Sidhartha Babu and Avani Lekhara. The former finished 18th place in the qualification stage with 603.2 points.

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Sidhartha Babu's resilience against adversity

Sidhartha Babu was very much obsessed with guns from a very young age. He took up martial arts and won a few medals at the national level. He also coached students before a motorbike accident jolted his growth.

Sidhartha was bedridden for a year but later opted to pursue rifle shooting in order to follow his childhood passion. He used to travel more than 230 km from Thiruvananthapuram to Idukki to practice at the best shooting facility in the southern state of India.

Although he was denied to shoot in the first place, consistently targeting the bulls-eye proved his credentials. He broke the national record in 2014 in the 50m prone rifle para category, something which is yet to be broken. He excelled in the state events and then trained under former Olympic champion Sergei Martinov to take his performance to another level on the global stage.

Sidhartha finished sixth at the 2019 World Championships held in Sydney to earn a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He was the only player from Kerala to represent the country at the quadrennial event in 2021 (postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic).

No Indian shooter qualified for the final in the 50m rifle prone SH1 event at the 2020 Paralympics with Sidhartha Babu being the closest to make the cut. He missed the mark by a whisker after shooting a score of 617.2, which was just 0.2 behind Chao Dong.