Shailesh Kumar gained a gold medal in Males’s Excessive Soar T-63 occasion on the Asian Para Video games in Hangzhou, China. Picture: X/Twitter
India made a powerful begin to the Asian Para Video games at Hangzhou (China) on Monday, profitable 17 medals together with six gold, with star shooter Avani Lekhara main the way in which because the nation ended the opening day of competitions on the fourth spot within the medals tally.
India (6 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze) is behind hosts China (31 gold, 29 silver, 23 bronze), Iran (9 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze) and Uzbekistan (6 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze) within the medals tally.
As anticipated, monitor and subject occasions contributed essentially the most — 11 medals (together with 5 gold) out of the 17 on provide. The day started with the Indians sweeping all three medals in males’s membership throw F51 occasion with Pranav Soorma profitable the gold.
The 29-year-old Soorma broke the Asian Para Video games report with an effort of 30.01m whereas Dharambir (28.76m) and Amit Kumar (26.93m) have been second and third respectively. There have been solely 4 opponents within the occasion with Saudi Arabia’s Radhi Ali Alharthi ending final with a throw of 23.77m. Soorma suffered a spinal wire damage after an accident when he was 16 and that left him paralysed. However that didn’t deter him from taking over para sports activities, and he gained a silver medal on the 2019 Beijing World Para Athletics Grand Prix occasion.
The F51 membership throw occasion is for athletes who’ve motion affected to a excessive diploma within the trunk, legs and fingers. All of the opponents compete whereas seated and depend on their shoulders and arms to generate energy. Later within the day, Avani made historical past as she clinched gold within the girls’s R2 10m air rifle standing SH1 class with a sport report rating of 249.6. “This gold is very special for me because this is my first medal in the Asian Para Games. This Asian Para Games is part of my preparations for the 2024 Paralympics,” Avani stated after profitable gold.
The opposite Indian para shooter Mona Agarwal completed sixth within the standings. Rudransh Khandelwal added a medal in taking pictures by profitable a silver in P4 combined 50m pistol SH1 occasion. Born in Jaipur in November 2001, Avani met with a street accident in 2012 that made her wheelchair-bound ever since. Impressed by Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, her taking pictures profession took off in 2015, and he or she has by no means appeared again. Avani burst into the limelight together with her stupendous present on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics the place she grew to become the primary Indian girl to win a gold medal within the Summer time Video games.
There, Avani additionally gained a bronze medal within the 50m rifle 3 positions. Three Indians additionally completed 1-2-3 within the males’s excessive soar T63 class however solely gold and silver have been awarded below Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) guidelines. The three Indians have been the one opponents within the occasion and below APC’s ‘minus one rule’, Shailesh Kumar gained the gold with an Asian Para Video games report soar of 1.82m whereas Mariyappan Thangavelu (1.80m) took the silver. Govindbhai Ramsingbhai Padhiyar (1.78m) can not win a bronze below APC guidelines.
Not less than 4 athletes must be within the fray to award all of the three medals. “In exceptional case where only three or fewer athletes compete, medal will be awarded following the ‘minus-one rule’. For example, if an event is finalised by 2 athletes/teams only, only gold medal will be allocated,” in response to the APC rule ebook. The 23-year-old Kumar had gained a silver within the World Para Athletics Championships earlier this 12 months whereas Thangavelu was fourth. Each have certified for subsequent 12 months’s Paris Paralympics. Thangavelu gained a gold medal within the excessive soar T42 class within the 2016 Rio Paralympics and silver in T63 within the Tokyo Paralympics.
In T63 classification, athletes with a single leg above the knee amputation compete with a prosthesis. Nishad Kumar gained India’s third gold of the day in males’s excessive soar T47 class as he cleared a top of two.02m whereas compatriot Ram Pal took the bronze with an effort of 1.94m. The T47 classification is supposed for athletes with a beneath elbow or wrist amputation or impairment. Nishad, a farmer’s son in Amb city in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district, obtained his proper hand severed by a grass-cutting machine at his household’s farm when he was an eight-year-old.
Ankur Dhama and Praveen Kumar clinched a gold every in males’s 5000m T11 and excessive soar T64 occasions to finish the Indian medal rush. Ankur clocked 16:37.29 to win the race competed by runners with a near-total visible impairment. Praveen cleared a video games report top of two.02m to win gold within the occasion meant for athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics in a standing place. One other Indian, Renu Unni took the excessive soar T64 bronze. Monu Ghangas gained the bronze medal in males’s shot put F11 occasion with an effort of 12.33m. In girls’s canoe VL2 occasion, Prachi Yadav gained a silver with a time of 1:03.147.
In judo, Kapil Parmar picked up a silver in males’s 60kg J1 occasion whereas Kokila gained a bronze on girls’s 48kg J2 class. In taekwondo, Aruna picked up a bronze medal within the girls’s 47kg K44 occasion. In para sports activities, athletes are labeled in response to the diploma of exercise limitation ensuing from the impairment. Classification determines which athletes are eligible to compete in a specific occasion. That is completed to make sure honest competitors.
(with inputs from PTI)