Sumit Antil took India's gold medal tally to three, as he broke the Paralympics javelin record twice in the F64 final at Paralympics 2024 with a best throw of 70.59m. Meanwhile, Nithya Sre Sivan won the bronze medal in the SH6 women's singles badminton event.
Earlier, para badminton star Nitesh Kumar brought home India's second gold medal, winning the Men's Singles SL3 para badminton final. He was not the only badminton medalist, as Suhas Yathiraj (SL4) and Thulasimathi Murugesan (SU5) bagged silver, while Manisha Ramadass (SU5) clinched bronze. Armless archery wonder Sheetal Devi, alongside veteran Rakesh Kumar, brought home bronze in para archery Mixed Team Compound Event. Yogesh Kathuniya had brought silver in the Men's Discus Throw F56 Final.
Avani enters another final
Star shooter Avani Lekhara, who has already won a gold medal, qualified for the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final. However, India's flag bearer at the opening ceremony, Bhagyashree Jadhav, missed out on a medal in her women's shot put F34 Final. In athletics, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Shailesh Kumar, Sharad Kumar will be in action in men's high jump. Ajeet Singh, Rinku, Sundar Singh Gurjar will eye medals in F46 javelin throw Final.
Nishad, Yogesh win silver each
Nishad Kumar and Yogesh Kathuniya proved their mettle in para field events, both clinching silver.
Nishad, from Badaun village in Himachal Pradesh, secured his second successive silver at the Paralympic Games after his season-best effort of 2.04m in the men’s high jump T47 category late on Sunday night. He had settled for a second-place finish three years ago too, at the Tokyo Paralympics, with a jump of 2.06m.
On Monday, Yogesh, from Haryana’s Bahadurgarh town, also claimed his second consecutive Paralympics silver. He managed his season’s best of 42.22m in the men’s F-56 discus throw final.
Avani first Indian to win gold at two Paralympics
India’s shooting sisterhood continued to do wonders, when Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal earned a gold and a bronze respectively in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event. With this, Avani made history with back-to-back Paralympics gold, the Jaipur girl successfully defending her 2020 Games mantle with a score of 249.7, thus marginally bettering her 249.6 Tokyo record. The girls from Rajasthan also ensured that for the first time in Paralympics history, two Indians would finish on the podium in the same event.
Manish Narwal added glitter to India’s day when he was once again on the podium in the men’s 10m air pistol (SH1) final, clinching silver after his gold in the Tokyo Games.
