India picked up a whopping 17 medals, including six gold, with star shooter Avani Lekhara main the best way because the nation ended the opening day of competitions at fourth spot in the Asian Para Games right here on Monday.
India (6 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze) are behind hosts China (31 gold, 29 silver, 23 bronze), Iran (9 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze) and Uzbekistan (6 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze) in the medals tally.
As anticipated, observe and discipline occasions contributed essentially the most — 11 medals (including 5 gold) out of the 17 on supply.
The day started with the Indians sweeping all of the three medals in males’s membership throw F51 occasion with Pranav Soorma profitable the gold.
The 29-year-old Soorma broke the Asian Para Games document with an effort of 30.01m whereas Dharambir (28.76m) and Amit Kumar (26.93m) had been second and third respectively.
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There had been solely 4 opponents in the occasion with Saudi Arabia’s Radhi Ali Alharthi ending final with a throw of 23.77m.
Soorma suffered a spinal twine harm after an accident when he was 16 and that left him paralysed. But that didn’t deter him from taking over para sports activities, and he received 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 in the trunk, legs and fingers. All the opponents compete whereas seated and depend on their shoulders and arm to generate energy.
Later in the day, Avani made historical past as she clinched gold in the ladies’s R2 10m air rifle standing SH1 class with a video games document 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 mentioned after profitable gold. The different Indian para shooter Mona Agarwal completed sixth in the standings.
Rudransh Khandelwal added a medal in capturing 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.
Inspired by Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, her capturing profession took off in 2015, and she or he has by no means seemed again.
Avani burst into the limelight along with her stupendous present on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics the place she turned the primary Indian girl to win a gold medal in the Summer Games. There, Avani additionally received a bronze medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions.
Three Indians additionally completed 1-2-3 in the boys’s excessive leap T63 class however solely gold and silver had been awarded below Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) guidelines.
The three Indians had been the one opponents in the occasion and below APC’s ‘minus one rule’, Shailesh Kumar received the gold with an Asian Para Games document leap of 1.82m whereas Mariyappan Thangavelu (1.80m) took the silver.
Govindbhai Ramsingbhai Padhiyar (1.78m) can’t win a bronze below APC guidelines.
At least 4 athletes want to be in 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 accordance to the APC rule guide.
The 23-year-old Kumar had received a silver in the World Para Athletics Championships earlier this yr whereas Thangavelu was fourth. Both have certified for subsequent yr’s Paris Paralympics.
Thangavelu had received a gold medal in excessive leap T42 class in 2016 Rio Paralympics and silver in T63 in Tokyo Paralympics.
In T63 classification, athletes with a single leg above the knee amputation compete with a prosthesis.
Nishad Kumar received India’s third gold of the day in males’s excessive leap 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 leap T64 occasions to full 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 document top of two.02m to win gold in the occasion meant for athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics in a standing place. Another Indian, Renu Unni took the excessive leap T64 bronze.
Monu Ghangas received the bronze medal in males’s shot put F11 occasion with an effort of 12.33m.
In ladies’s canoe VL2 occasion, Prachi Yadav received 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 received a bronze on ladies’s 48kg J2 class.
In taekwondo, Aruna picked up a bronze medal in ladies’s 47kg K44 occasion. In para sports activities, athletes are labeled in accordance to the diploma of exercise limitation ensuing from the impairment. Classification determines which athletes are eligible to compete in a selected occasion. This is finished to guarantee honest competitors.
