India climb to fifth in Asian Para Games standings after athletics medal rush

India's para-athletes won 18 medals, including five gold, at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya, lifting the country to fifth place. Simran, Praveen Kumar and Sachin Khilari set Games records, while athletics continued to drive India's medal haul so far

Nagoya: India’s track and field contingent delivered a stellar performance, collecting 18 medals, including five gold, to propel the country to fifth place in the overall standings. Sprinter Simran, high jumper Praveen Kumar and shot putter Sachin Khilari also set new Games records in their respective events.

Apart from Simran (women’s 100m T12), Praveen (men’s high jump T44/64) and Sachin (men’s shot put F46), India’s other gold medallists were Dilip Gavit (men’s 100m T47) and Ayush Verma (men’s shot put F53).

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India also won medals in para-archery, para-swimming and powerlifting as the country steadily moved towards a strong overall performance in the eight-day event, which will end on Saturday.

However, none of these performances came close to the power-packed display by India’s athletics contingent, which accounted for 13 of the 14 gold medals the country had secured at the Games by Wednesday.

India had also claimed 21 silver medals, including 13 in athletics, and 27 bronze medals, including 16 in athletics, taking its overall tally to 62.

Simran was among the star performers, as the visually impaired runner won the 100m gold to add to her victory in the 200m.

She set Games records in both events within 24 hours, despite battling fatigue because of limited dietary options available to the strictly vegetarian 26-year-old.

Armless compound archer Sheetal Devi, who is also on course for multiple medals, won silver in the women’s doubles event with Payal Nag after losing to China in the final.

In swimming, visually impaired athlete Ravi Kartik Budigina won his second silver medal of the Games in the men’s 100m backstroke in the S13 category.

Another swimmer to win a second Games medal was Himanshu Nandal, who claimed bronze in the men’s breaststroke SB13 classification. Nandal is also visually impaired, with near-total blindness.

While Ravi clocked 1:10.10 to finish second in a four-swimmer field, Nandal recorded a time of 1:20.72.

India were assured of three medals in the men’s singles SL4 badminton competition, which is for athletes with moderate lower-limb impairments, after defending champion Suhas LY, Naveen Sivakumar and Abhijeet Sakhuja advanced to the semifinals.

The men’s doubles pair of Krishna Nagar and Sivarajan Solaimalai won silver in the SH6 category, which is for athletes of short stature, after finishing second in a group featuring just four teams. Given the limited competition, medals were awarded based on group standings rather than knockout matches.

Powerlifter Kasthuri Rajamani, who has polio, won silver in the women’s 67kg category, marking the biggest triumph of her career.

The athletics march

India’s athletics contingent is aiming to win medals in 60 of the 62 events in which it is competing. Given its performance so far, the target appears within reach, with two full days of competition still remaining. The contingent has won 41 medals so far.

Three members of the contingent have won two medals each. Preeti Pal, a double bronze medallist at the 2024 Paralympics, is among them. On Wednesday, she won silver in the women’s 100m T35 event, which is for athletes with cerebral palsy.

She had finished second in the women’s 200m T35 event on Tuesday.

Simran won the women’s 100m event in a Games-record time of 12.02 seconds, finishing ahead of Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh, who clocked 12.30 seconds.

Ayush Verma won India’s first para-athletics gold of the day in the men’s shot put F53 event, followed by Praveen Kumar in the men’s high jump T44/64 and Sachin Khilari in the men’s shot put F46.

India also won four silver medals in the morning session through Banti (men’s high jump T44/64), Bhagyashri Jadhav (women’s shot put F34), Mohd Yasser (men’s shot put F46) and Manjeet (men’s javelin F12/13).

Anubhav Choudhary (men’s 100m T35), Parveen (men’s shot put F46) and Rakeshbhai Bhatt (men’s 100m T37) won a bronze medal each.

Earlier, Dilip Gavit won gold in the men’s 100m T46/47 combined event, while compatriot Mohammed Morssinganakath Basil clinched silver in the same event.

The 23-year-old Gavit, a T46 athlete, clocked 10.69 seconds to finish first. Basil, a T47 athlete, won silver in a Games-record time of 10.72 seconds.

Athletes from two or more classifications may be grouped together in a combined event to ensure sufficient participation.

The T46 and T47 categories are for athletes with upper-limb impairments. The primary difference between the two classifications lies in the severity and location of the impairment.