News Brief
Sachin Sarjerao Khilari celebrates. (Photo Credit: X/@ParalympicIndia)
Indian para-athletes made history at the Asian Para Games by clinching a total of 80 medals, surpassing their previous record of 72 medals from the 2018 edition.
This outstanding feat includes 18 gold, 23 silver, and 39 bronze medals, and the tally is expected to increase as the competition continues.
Sachin Sarjerao Khilari set the tone for the day with a record throw of 16.03 m in the men's F46 shot put, earning India's first gold. Rohit Kumar secured the bronze with a throw of 14.56 m.
Para shooter Sidhartha Babu added another gold to India's collection in the R6 mixed 50 m rifle prone SH1 event with an impressive Asian Para Games score of 247.7.
The compound mixed team of Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar clinched the gold by defeating their Chinese counterparts Lin Yueshan and Ai Xinliang in a closely contested final, with a score of 151-149.
India also demonstrated excellence in athletics, with Simran and Bhagyashri Madhavrao Jadhav winning silver medals in women's T12 100 m and women's F34 shot put, respectively. Simran clocked 26.12 seconds, while Jadhav achieved a distance of 7.54 m.
Narayan Thakur clinched a bronze in the men's T35 100 m with a time of 14.37 seconds, and Shreyansh Trivedi also secured a bronze in the men's T37 100 m with a time of 12.24 seconds.
Additionally, in para-badminton, several Indian athletes earned bronze medals after reaching the semifinals in their respective events.
These included Sukant Indukant Kadam (men's singles SL4), Sivan Nithya Sumathy (women's singles SH6), Manisha Ramadass (women's singles SU5), Mandeep Kaur/Manisha Ramadass (women's doubles SL3-SU5), Krishna Nagar/Sivarajan Solaimalai (men's doubles SH6), and Pramod Bhagat/Sukant Indukant Kadam (men's doubles SL3-SL4).
In chess, Bhaveshkumar Rathi Himanshi secured a bronze in the women's individual standard VI-B1 event. The remarkable achievements of Indian para-athletes at the Asian Para Games continue to inspire the nation.