Asian Para Games: India sign off with record 114 medals, including 30 gold

Tridib Baparnash

New Delhi, Oct 23 (UNI) India produced their finest-ever performance at the Asian Para Games, finishing their campaign with a record 114 medals, including 30 gold, after a nine-gold haul on the final day in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday.

The 168-member Indian contingent bettered the country's previous best of 108 medals, including 27 gold, achieved at the 2023 Hangzhou Games despite sending nearly half the number of athletes this time. India finished with 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze medals to remain fourth in the standings at the end of their campaign. However, the final position could change as finals in a few events are scheduled for Saturday, with India having no representation in those competitions.

For the first time during the Games, para-athletics was not the biggest contributor to India's gold tally on the day, as badminton, archery and shooting also played significant roles in the final-day surge. Nine gold medals power India's final-day surge India collected nine gold medals on Friday, their highest single-day tally of the ongoing edition, across athletics, badminton, archery and shooting. Para-athletics remained India's biggest medal-winning discipline, accounting for 65 medals, 12 more than at the 2023 Games.

However, the badminton contingent shared the spotlight by winning three gold medals, including individual titles for Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and Games debutant Naveen Sivakumar. Nitesh claimed the men's singles SL3 title by defeating compatriot and Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16. He later added a silver medal in mixed doubles SL3-SU5 with Thulasimathi Murugesan. Naveen secured gold in the men's singles SL4 category, beating Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17. Thulasimathi completed a memorable campaign by winning the women's doubles title alongside Manasi Joshi. The pair defeated China's Yang Qiuxia and Xiao Zuxian 21-16, 21-13 in the SL3-SU5 final. Thulasimathi also claimed silver in women's singles SU5 after losing 18-21, 11-21 to Yang in the final, taking her overall haul for the day to one gold and two silver medals.

World records headline athletics campaign India's athletics contingent delivered several standout performances, with Sandeep and Haney setting world records to win gold in their respective events. Sandeep clocked 52.28 seconds to win the men's 400m T64 final, setting a world record. Fellow Indian Ajay Kumar claimed bronze in 53.61 seconds, a Games-record time.

Haney produced a world-record throw of 60.49m to win the men's javelin F37/38 title. Reigning Paralympic and world champion Sumit Antil led an Indian sweep in the men's javelin F42-44/61-64 combined event, winning gold with a best effort of 72.46m. Mahendra Gurjar took silver with 59.03m, while Sanjay Sandeep Sargar finished with bronze after throwing 64.48m. Gurjar was placed ahead of Sargar because of the more severe nature of his disability under the classification system covering congenital limb differences or surgical amputation.

Wheelchair-bound Pranav Soorma secured India's final gold of the day in athletics, winning the men's club throw with a Games-record effort of 32.87m. Nimisha Chakkungalparambil won silver in the women's long jump T47, while Parmod Bijarnia secured silver in the men's 1500m T46 with a time of 4:09.65. Mona Agarwal sets world record for second gold Para-shooter Mona Agarwal delivered one of India's finest performances at the Games, winning the women's 50m rifle 3 Positions SH1 gold with a world-record score of 357.5 at the Aichi Prefecture General Shooting Gallery. The victory gave Mona her second gold of the competition. She had earlier won the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 title with a Games-record score of 250.0 points, finishing ahead of compatriot Avani Lekhara, who took silver with 249.6 points. Mona had also secured India's first 2028 Paralympic quota earlier this year.

The SH1 category in Paralympic shooting is for athletes with lower-limb or upper-limb impairments who can support the weight of the firearm with their own arms. Harvinder and Vijay strike gold in archery Paralympic champion Harvinder Singh teamed up with debutant Vijay Sundi to win the men's doubles gold in recurve archery, defeating China's Yun Duo and Zhao Lixue 5-1 in the final. India's women's doubles pair of Bhawna Choudhary and Pooja Jatyan had to settle for silver after losing 0-6 to China's Gao Zihan and Wang Xueqian in their final. Swimmers finish with 11 medals India's swimming contingent also exceeded expectations, finishing the competition with 11 medals, including three silver.

Himanshu Nandal completed a hat-trick of bronze medals by finishing third in the men's 100m freestyle S11. The 22-year-old, who was born blind due to optic nerve failure, clocked 1 minute and 5.90 seconds. Japan's Uchu Tomita won gold in 58.22 seconds, followed by China's Chuanzhen Sun in 58.70 seconds. Nandal had earlier won bronze in the men's 400m freestyle and 100m breaststroke S11 events. Ravi Budigina also finished the Games with three medals, comprising two silver and one bronze.

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