Indian script history with all-time best haul of 114 medals as golden day at Asian Para Games with nine gold caps

shooter Mona Agarwal; and Space Shuttle Thulasimathi Murugesan & Manasi Joshi (Image credit: X) NEW DELHI: Indian para athletes put on a spectacular end to their campaign at the Asian Para Games, registering their best ever medal tally of 114 medals, including 30 golds, after a record-breaking flourish on the final day in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday.India bagged nine gold medals on the day – their biggest one-day haul of the ongoing edition – with champions hailing from badminton, archery, shooting and athletics. The country’s final tally of 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze surpassed the previous best of 108 medals, including 27 gold, achieved at the 2023 Hangzhou Games.The achievement was particularly significant as India competed with a contingent of 168 athletes, almost half the size of the team that represented the country in Hangzhou.India remained fourth in the standings at the end of their campaign, although with a few races remaining on Saturday, the final standings may change.READ ALSO: Meet the Indian flag bearers at the closing ceremony

Athletics and badminton lead India’s gold rush

Athletics remained India’s biggest medal contributor, winning 65 medals, 12 more than the previous edition. However, on Friday, a brilliant badminton campaign and golden performances in shooting and archery shared the limelight.Star javelin thrower Sumit Antil led India’s 1-2-3 finish in the men’s F42-44/61-64 combined event. The reigning Paralympic and world champion threw 72.46m to defend his title, while Mahendra Gurjar took silver (59.03m) and Sandip Sanjay Sargar took bronze (64.48m). Gurjar finished ahead of Sargar on the Raza points, which determine the order in the combined classification races.Pranav Soorma added another gold in the F51 men’s club throw and defended his title with a performance of 32.87m. Bronze was secured by Dharambir with a performance of 27.71m.Sandeep set a world record in the men’s 400m T64 to win the gold in 52.28 seconds. India’s Ajay Kumar also made it to the podium, winning bronze in a Games record 53.61 seconds.Haney set another world record when he threw 60.49m to win the men’s F37/38 javelin title. India also won silver medals through Nimisha Chakkungalparambil in women’s long jump T47 and Parmod Bijarnia in men’s 1500m T46 clocking 4:09.65.

Shuttlers deliver three golds

The Indian badminton contingent won three gold medals led by Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and Games debutant Naveen Sivakumar.Nitesh beat compatriot and Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 in the SL3 men’s singles final. He later added a silver medal in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 alongside Thulasimathi Murugesan.Meanwhile, Naveen beat Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17 to claim the SL4 men’s singles title.Thulasimathi enjoyed a memorable campaign of her own when she combined with Manasi Joshi to win gold in the women’s doubles SL3-SU5. The Indian pair beat China’s Yang Qiuxia and Xiao Zuxian 21-16, 21-13 in the final.The 24-year-old also secured silver in the SU5 women’s singles after losing to Yang 18-21, 11-21 in the final to complete a three-medal haul.

Mona broke the world record, Harvinder won gold in archery

Shooter Mona Agarwal added another golden chapter to India’s campaign, breaking the world record to win the SH1 title in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position with a score of 357.5 points.The 38-year-old had earlier won gold in the SH1 women’s 10m standing air rifle with a record score of 250.0 points, beating compatriot Avani Lekhar, who took silver with 249.6.Mona’s latest triumph secured her second gold of the Games and further underlined her status among India’s premier para shooters. It also secured India’s first Paralympic quota for 2028 earlier this year.In archery, Paralympic champion Harvinder Singh teamed up with debutant Vijay Sundi to win men’s recurve doubles gold, defeating China’s Yun Duo and Zhao Lixue 5-1 in the final.Indian women’s recurve doubles pair of Bhawna Choudhary, Pooja Jatyan settled for silver after losing 0-6 to China’s Gao Zihan and Wang Xueqian.

The swimming contingent exceeds expectations

Indian swimmers also surpassed expectations, finishing the Games with 11 medals, including three silvers.Himanshu Nandal completed a hat-trick of bronze medals by finishing third in the S11 men’s 100m freestyle. The 22-year-old, who was born blind due to optic nerve failure, clocked 1:05.90 behind Japan’s Uchu Tomita (58.22) and China’s Chuanzhen Sun (58.70).Nandal earlier won bronze in the S11 men’s 400m freestyle and 100m breaststroke events. Ravi Budigina also finished with three medals, including two silver and one bronze.With nine gold medals on Friday and a record haul of 114, India ended their Asian Para Games campaign with their most successful performance at a continental event, surpassing the benchmark set in Hangzhou three years ago.