Asian Para Games Oct 19 Pack: India bag 4 golds as Mona headline Nishad 11 medals

11 medals. 4 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze.

If the Indian contingent wanted to lay down an early marker, then they got the job done in Nagoya on Monday, October 19. Mona Agarwal and Nishad Kumar led the golden charge while the archers Sheetal Devi stole the limelight by achieving a world record before helping to set up another.

ASIAN PARA GAMES, 19 OCTOBER THE BEST

Sheetal first equaled the world record in the women’s combined qualifying round before teaming up with Rakesh Kumar to set a new world record in the mixed team competition. It was another emphatic reminder of India’s growing prowess in para archery.

India also achieved several one-two finishes in various events, raising the hopes of fans expecting more medals in the same events over the course of the Games.

Thanks to the medal rush, India ended the day fourth in the standings. While China took an impressive early lead, India have a chance to catch up with Japan (8 gold) and Uzbekistan (6 gold) in the coming days.

ASIAN PARA GAMES: COMPLETE INFORMATION

MONA, AVANI DELIVERS A CLASSIC SHOT

Mona Agarwal staged a stunning comeback in the women’s SH1 10m air rifle final, climbing from sixth place to snatch gold from defending champion Avani Lekhar in a best-scoring event.

Mona finished with an Asian Para Games record 250.0 pointsbeating Avani by just 0.4 points. The two-time Paralympic champion had to settle for silver with 249.6.

For Mona, the win was another milestone in a career that continues to gain momentum. The Paris 2024 Paralympics bronze medalist helped India secure second place in the quota for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics. She had already won the quota for the WSPS World Championships in Changwon, South Korea last month, where she won silver.

Mona signaled her intent in qualifying as she topped the field of eight scorers with 629.1 points to set an Asian Para Games record. Avani followed in second place with 626.4 to set up an all-India battle that went down to the wire.

NISHAD FLYING DEBUT, SOUMYA, RINKU JOIN THE GOLD RUSH

The Para-athletics arena has become India’s gold mine with Nishad Kumar, Soumya and Rinku winning gold in their respective events.

Nishad’s triumph in the men’s long jump had a special meaning. The two-time Paralympic silver medalist was competing in the international long jump for the first time but showed no signs of nervousness as he soared to a height of 7.11m to claim first place.

Soumya added another gold in the women’s 1500m T12/T13, clocking a personal best of 5:12.39 seconds. Her compatriot Venkatesh Radha made it a one-two finish for India as he took the silver in 5:30.90.

India also won bronze in the women’s T11 event through Ravanni Valasanaini. She moved up the medal positions after initially third-placed Rakshitha Raju was disqualified for a technical offense related to competition regulations on clothing, footwear and bibs.

The F46 men’s javelin event turned into an all-India show with Rinku and Ajeet Singh winning gold and silver respectively. Rinku’s 65.11m in his final attempt bested Ajeet’s 65.02m, with both athletes recording season best throws.

JUDOKES GIVE DOUBLE JOY ON THE STAGE

India’s visually impaired judokas added two more medals to their tally, with Kokila taking the silver and Kapil Parmar the bronze.

Kokila finished second in the women’s J2 52kg category after losing to Kyrgyz’s Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy in the final. The bronze medalist from the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou did a little better this time and added silver to her collection.

Kapil, the silver medalist from last year, had to settle for bronze in the men’s J1 under 70 kg category. After suffering a narrow 0-1 defeat to Indonesia’s Junaedi in the semi-finals, he bounced back in the play-offs to defeat fellow Indonesian Ahnaf Rafli Shidqi by the same margin.

RAVI KARTHIK ADDS SWIMMING SILVER

India’s medal chase continued in swimming where Ravi Karthik Budigina secured silver in the men’s S13 100m freestyle event.

Ravi finished on the podium in the category of swimmers with a relatively mild visual impairment in 56.68 seconds.

BHAVINA LEADS TABLE TENNIS IN INDIA

The Indian table tennis contingent secured more medals en route, with Paralympic silver medalists Bhavina Patel, Prachi Pandey and Sonalben all making it to the semi-finals in their respective women’s singles categories.

Prachi broke new ground by securing India’s first ever Para Asian Games medal in the women’s 6 category. In her second group match, she defeated Thailand’s Kanokporn Phathumchai 11-5, 11-4, 11-13, 12-10 to book her place in the last four.

Sonalben kept the Indian charge in the 3rd grade by defeating Thailand’s Dararat Asayut 3-1 in the quarter-finals. She won 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 to advance to the semifinals.

Bhavina, a former Commonwealth Games gold medallist, also came through after posting a strong recovery against China’s Zhang Miao in the quarter-finals of the 4-5 class. After dropping the opening match, she came back to win 8-11, 11-6, 11-1, 11-6.

NITESH GUARANTEE BADMINTON MEDAL, THULASIMATHI

India’s medal momentum carried over to parabadminton where Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan secured a mixed doubles medal in the SL3-SU5 event by making it to the semi-finals.

The Indian duo topped Group B undefeated. After receiving a walkover against China’s Yang Jianyuan and Yang Qiuxia in their opening match, they overcame China’s Chen Pengfei and Huang Zixuan 21-4, 21-18 in just 23 minutes at the Ichinomiya City Gymnasium.

Their progress to the semi-finals guaranteed India at least a bronze medal.

Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh also started his SL3 men’s singles campaign with a convincing 21-13, 21-15 win over South Korea’s Joo Dongjae in Pool A.

Ruthick Ragupathi added to his winning streak by defeating Thailand’s Somsiri Prichu 21-12, 21-12 in the men’s SU5 Group C singles.

– The end