India Bags 11 Medals As Asian Para Games Campaign Takes Off
India made an impressive start to the Asian Para Games on Monday, collecting 11 medals, including four gold, five silver and two bronze, across multiple sports in Nagoya. Shooter Mona Agarwal, long jumper Nishad Kumar and armless archer Sheetal Devi headlined the country’s campaign as India finished fourth in the overall standings.
Sheetal also matched the world record in the women’s compound archery qualification round before teaming up with Rakesh Kumar to set a new world mark in the mixed team event.
Mona Agarwal Leads India’s Gold Rush
Mona delivered one of the day’s standout performances, rallying from sixth place to win gold in the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 final with an Asian Para Games record of 250.0 points. She edged defending champion Avani Lekhara, who scored 249.6, by just 0.4 points.
Mona, a bronze medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, had topped qualification with 629.1 points, ahead of Avani’s 626.4.
The result also secured India a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Mona had already earned one at the World Shooting Para Sport Championships in Changwon, South Korea, last month.
Nishad Kumar Wins Long Jump Gold
India’s para-athletes added three gold medals during the evening session, with Nishad Kumar, Soumya and Rinku finishing on top in their respective events.
Nishad, a two-time Paralympic silver medallist, won the men’s long jump with an effort of 7.11m. It was his first international appearance in a long jump competition.
In the women’s 1500m T12/T13 event, visually impaired runner Soumya clocked a personal best of 5:12.39 seconds to claim gold. India’s Venkatesh Radha finished second in 5:30.90 seconds.
Rinku won the men’s F46 javelin title with a season-best throw of 65.11m, narrowly ahead of compatriot Ajeet Singh, who secured silver with 65.02m.
Ravanni Valasanaini also took bronze in the women’s T11 event after the original third-place finisher, Rakshitha Raju, was disqualified for a technical violation.
Kokila And Kapil Add Judo Medals
India’s visually impaired judokas contributed two more medals. Kokila won silver in the women’s J2 -52kg category after losing the final to Kyrgyzstan’s Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy.
Kapil Parmar claimed bronze in the men’s J1 -70kg division. After losing his semifinal 0-1 to Indonesia’s Junaedi, Kapil defeated another Indonesian, Ahnaf Rafli Shidqi, 1-0 in the bronze-medal playoff.
In swimming, Ravi Karthik Budigina won silver in the men’s 100m freestyle S13 event with a time of 56.68 seconds.
Table Tennis Players Assure More Medals
India secured medals in three table tennis classes after Prachi Pandey, Sonalben Patel and Bhavina Patel advanced to the semifinals.
Prachi defeated Thailand’s Kanokporn Phathumchai 11-5, 11-4, 11-13, 12-10 in the women’s Class 6 event, assuring India a first-ever Asian Para Games medal in the category.
Sonalben beat Thailand’s Dararat Asayut 3-1 in the Class 3 quarterfinal, while Bhavina overcame China’s Zhang Miao 3-1 in the Class 4-5 event.
Para-Badminton Pair Reaches Semifinals
India’s Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan assured themselves of a mixed doubles medal by reaching the semifinals in the SL3-SU5 event. The pair received a walkover in their opening match before defeating China’s Chen Pengfei and Huang Zixuan 21-4, 21-18 to top Group B unbeaten.
Paris Paralympics champion Nitesh also won his men’s singles SL3 group match against South Korea’s Joo Dongjae 21-13, 21-15. Ruthick Ragupathi continued India’s strong run with a 21-12, 21-12 victory over Thailand’s Somsiri Pricha in the men’s singles SU5 event.
With medals already secured in shooting, athletics, judo, swimming, table tennis and badminton, India made a strong opening statement at the Asian Para Games.
