Manish Narwal at the Asian Para Games 2026
Manish Narwal won silver in the P1 men’s 10m air pistol SH1 at the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on 20 October. He scored 233.7 in the final, finishing behind South Korea’s Jo Jeongdu (241.3), who also beat him to gold at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
It improves on the bronze he won in the same event at the last Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.
Paralympic gold in Tokyo and silver in Paris
Narwal won gold in the P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics on 4 September 2021, at the age of 19. He shot 218.2 in the final, a Paralympic record, and India took a one-two finish as Singhraj Adhana won silver with 216.7. Narwal had qualified only seventh for that final. Earlier in the same Games he had qualified second in the 10m air pistol SH1 but finished seventh in the final.
At Paris 2024 he went one better in the 10m air pistol. He qualified fifth with 565 and shot 234.9 in the final on 30 August 2024 to win silver behind South Korea’s Jo Jeongdu (237.4). China’s Yang Chao took bronze. It made Narwal a Paralympic medallist at two Games in a row.
Manish Narwal’s career highlights
- 2016: takes up shooting in Ballabhgarh, Haryana
- 2020: Arjuna Award
- 2021, Tokyo Paralympics: gold, P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 (Paralympic record 218.2); seventh, P1 10m air pistol SH1
- 2021: Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna
- 2023, Asian Para Games, Hangzhou: bronze, P1 10m air pistol SH1
- 2024, Paris Paralympics: silver, P1 10m air pistol SH1 (234.9)
- 2026, Asian Para Games, Aichi-Nagoya: silver, P1 10m air pistol SH1 (233.7)
From football to shooting
Narwal was born on 17 October 2001 and grew up in Faridabad, Haryana. He was born with an impairment in his right hand and shoots left-handed in the SH1 class, for athletes who can hold a pistol without support. “I noticed I was different when I was in the first grade,” he has said.
As a boy he wanted to be a footballer, but his impairment kept him to local club level. In 2016 a friend of his father suggested shooting, and his father took him to the 10X Shooting Academy in Ballabhgarh, where he trained under Rakesh Thakur. Five years later he was a Paralympic champion.
India’s other shooters at these Games include Avani Lekhara, the two-time Paralympic champion. For India’s para archery star at the same Games, read our Sheetal Devi profile.
Updated 20 October 2026. Sources: ANI (Asian Para Games 2026), The Tribune (Asian Para Games 2026), Tokyo 2020 official athlete profile, Scroll, The News Minute, The Week, The Bridge (Paris 2024), The Bridge (India squad), EastMojo, Sportskeeda and Wikipedia.
