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Led by star shooter Avni Lekhara, India on Monday bagged a total of 17 medals, including six golds, at the Asian Para Games 2023, leaving it fourth on the first day of competition. India won six gold, six silver and five bronze medals on the first day. They are fourth in the medal tally behind hosts China (31 gold, 29 silver, 23 bronze), Iran (9 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze) and Uzbekistan (6 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze). As expected, India bagged the highest number of 11 medals in track and field events. It also includes five gold medals. Earlier in the day, Pranav Surma won gold in the men’s club throw F51 event. Indian athletes also won silver and bronze medals in this event.
Surma won the gold medal with an effort of 30.01m, setting a new Asian Para Games record, while Dharambir (28.76m) and Amit Kumar (26.93m) finished second and third respectively. There were only four competitors in the event, with Saudi Arabia’s Radhi Ali Alarthi finishing last with a throw of 23.77m. Surma had an accident at the age of 16 in which he sustained a spinal cord injury. This left him paralyzed. After this he decided to try his hand at para sports. The 29-year-old won a silver medal at the 2019 Beijing World Para Athletics Grand Prix event. The F51 club throw event is for athletes whose movements around the waist, legs and arms are significantly affected. In this, contestants compete sitting down and rely on shoulder and arm strength.
Avni Lekhara, the country’s first shooter to win gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, also won a gold medal at the Asian Games with a record. Avni created history by winning the gold medal in the women’s R2 10m air rifle standing SH1 category with a Games record score of 249.6 points. Another Indian para shooter, Mona Aggarwal, finished sixth in the event. Avni later said, “This gold medal is special for me as it is my first medal in the Asian Para Games. These Games are part of my preparation for the Paralympic Games to be held in 2024.” In shooting itself, Rudransh Khandelwal won a silver medal in the P4 Mixed 50m Pistol SH1 event. Born in Jaipur in November 2001, Avni met with a road accident in 2012, after which she is in a wheelchair.
Inspired by Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, he started trying his hand at shooting in 2015 and has never looked back. Avni came into limelight with her brilliant performance at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at these Games. He also won a bronze medal in 50m rifle 3 positions. India also finished in the top three in the men’s high jump T63 category but only gold and silver were awarded in the event under Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) rules. Only three Indians challenged in this competition. Under APC’s ‘minus one rule’, Shailesh Kumar won the gold medal with a record jump of 1.82m, while Mariyappan Thangavelu (1.80m) won the silver medal. Govindbhai Ramsingbhai Padhiar (1.78 m) cannot win bronze under APC rules.
A minimum of four athletes must be in the field to win all three medals. Thangavelu won a gold medal in the high jump T42 category at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a silver medal in the T63 category at the Tokyo Paralympics. Athletes in the T63 category compete with a prosthesis due to a deformity in one leg above the knee. Nishad Kumar won India’s third gold medal of the day in the men’s high jump T47 category with an effort of 2.02m. Compatriot Ram Pal won the bronze medal with an effort of 1.94 meters in this event. The T47 classification is for players with elbow or wrist subluxation. The final two gold medals of the day were won by Ankur Dhama and Praveen Kumar in the men’s 5000m T11 and high jump T64 events respectively.
Ankur won the race with a time of 16:37.29, in which almost all visually impaired runners participated. Praveen created a new sports record by jumping 2.02 meters. Another Indian Renu Unni won bronze medal in T64 in high jump. Monu Ghangas won the bronze medal in the men’s shot put F11 event with an effort of 12.33m. In the women’s canoe VL2 event, Prachi Yadav won the silver medal with a time of 1:03.147. In judo, Kapil Parmar won the silver medal in the men’s 60 kg J1 event, while Kokila won the bronze medal in the women’s 48 kg J2 category. In taekwondo, Aruna won a bronze medal in the women’s 47 kg K44 event.