The Indian contingent made history on Thursday as they recorded their best-ever medal haul clinched a total of 82 at the ongoing 2022 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.
On Day 5, India bagged 25 medals including three golds, to make sure the country is placed eighth with a eighteen gold, 23 silver and 41 bronze medals – behind hosts China, Iran, Japan, Republic of Korea, Uzbekistan, Thailand and Indonesia.
The medal rush for India came in badminton and athletics events where the para-athletes won thirteen medals and eight medals respectively.
While Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi won gold in the mixed team compound archery event, Sachin Khilari won gold in the men’s shotput F46 event. The third gold for the day came from Sidhartha Babu in the mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 event.
With a stunning throw of 16.03 metres, Khilari created a new Games record, and Babu scored an incredible 247.7, which was also an Asian Games record.
Simran Vats earned her second medal at the Games, after winning her second silver, after she finished second in the women’s 200m T12 event. Bhagyashri Yadav won silver in women’s shotput F34 after she was outclassed by China’s Lijuan Zou who threw 9.14, a Games Record.
The second medal of the day in archery came from the men’s doubles W1 Open duo of Adil Mohamed Nazir Ansari and Naveen Dalal who won bronze. Meanwhile, in chess, Himanshi Rathi also secured bronze in the women’s Individual Standard V1-B1 event.
Before this, the Indian para-athletes had their best result at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Indonesia, where they took home 72 medals. With two days left in the Asian Para Games 2023, India has a good chance of going past 100 medals.
Indian medallists on October 26
Archery:
Adil and Naveen - Archery Men’s Doubles W1 Open - Bronze
Rakesh Kumar and Sheetal Devi - Archery Mixed Team Compound - Gold
Athletics:
Narayan Thakur - Men’s 100m T35 - Bronze
Shreyansh Trivedi - Men’s 100m T37 - Bronze
Monu Ghangas - Men’s Discus Throw F11 - Silver
Sachin Khilari - Men’s Shotput F46 - Gold
Rohit Kumar - Men’s Shotput F46 - Bronze
Muthuraja - Men’s Shotput F55 - Bronze
Simran Vats - Women’s 200m T12 - Silver
Bhagyashri Jadhav - Women’s Shotput F34 - Silver
Badminton:
Sukant Kadam - Badminton Men’s Singles SL4 - Bronze
Sukant Kadam and Pramod Bhagat - Men’s Doubles SL3-SL4 Badminton - Bronze
Krishna Nagar and Sivarajan Solamalai - Men’s Doubles SH6 Badminton - Bronze
Manasi Joshi - Women’s Singles SL3 Badminton - Bronze
Mandeep Kaur - Women’s Singles SL3 Badminton - Bronze
Vaishnavi Puneyani - Women’s Singles SL4 Badminton - Bronze
Manisha Ramadass - Women’s Singles SU5 Badminton - Bronze
Nithya Sre - Women’s Singles SH6 Badminton - Bronze
Mandeep Kaur and Manisha Ramadass - Women’s Doubles SL3-SU5 Badminton - Bronze
Nithya Sre and Rachana Patel - Women’s Doubles SH6 Badminton - Bronze
Manisha Ramadass and Pramod Bhagat - Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Badminton - Bronze
Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan - Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 Badminton - Bronze
Nithya Sre and Sivarajan Solaimalai - Mixed Doubles SH6 Badminton - Bronze
Chess:
Himanshi Rathi - Women’s Individual Standard V1-B1 Chess - Bronze
Shooting:
Sidhartha Babu - Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 - Gold