Shooter Mona Agarwal; and shuttlers Thulasimathi Murugesan & Manasi Joshi (Pic credit: X)
NEW DELHI: India's para-athletes produced a spectacular finish to their campaign at the Asian Para Games, registering their best-ever medal haul of 114 medals, including 30 gold, after a record-breaking final-day flourish in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday.India collected nine gold medals on the day — their biggest single-day haul of the ongoing edition — with champions emerging from badminton, archery, shooting and athletics. The country's final tally of 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze surpassed its previous best of 108 medals, including 27 gold, achieved at the Hangzhou Games in 2023.
The achievement was particularly significant as India competed with a contingent of 168 athletes, nearly half the size of the squad that represented the country in Hangzhou.India remained fourth in the standings at the end of its campaign, although the final positions could change after a few remaining events on Saturday.ALSO READ: Meet India's flag-bearers at closing ceremony
Athletics, badminton lead India's gold rush
Athletics remained India's biggest medal contributor, accounting for 65 medals, 12 more than at the previous edition. On Friday, however, the spotlight was shared with a superb badminton campaign and gold-winning performances in shooting and archery.
Star javelin thrower Sumit Antil led an Indian 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 with 59.03m and Sandip Sanjay Sargar claimed bronze with 64.48m. Gurjar finished ahead of Sargar on Raza points, which determine rankings in combined-classification events.Pranav Soorma added another gold in the men's club throw F51, defending his title with a Games-record effort of 32.87m. Dharambir secured bronze with 27.71m.Sandeep delivered a world-record performance in the men's 400m T64, clocking 52.28 seconds for gold. India's Ajay Kumar also reached the podium, winning bronze in a Games-record time of 53.61 seconds.Haney produced another world record, throwing 60.49m to win the men's javelin F37/38 title. India also picked up silver medals through Nimisha Chakkungalparambil in the women's long jump T47 and Parmod Bijarnia in the men's 1500m T46, where he clocked 4:09.65.
Shuttlers deliver three golds
India's badminton contingent delivered three gold medals, led by Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and Games debutant Naveen Sivakumar.Nitesh defeated compatriot and Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 in the men's singles SL3 final. He later added a silver medal in mixed doubles SL3-SU5 alongside Thulasimathi Murugesan.Naveen, meanwhile, defeated Indonesia's Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17 to win the men's singles SL4 title.Thulasimathi enjoyed a memorable campaign of her own, combining with Manasi Joshi to win gold in 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 women's singles SU5 after losing 18-21, 11-21 to Yang in the final, completing a three-medal haul.
Mona breaks world record, Harvinder wins archery gold
Shooter Mona Agarwal added another golden chapter to India's campaign, shattering the world record to win the women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 title with a score of 357.5 points.The 38-year-old had earlier won the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 gold with a Games-record score of 250.0 points, edging compatriot Avani Lekhara, who took silver with 249.6.Mona's latest triumph gave her a second gold of the Games and further underlined her standing among India's leading para-shooters. She had also secured India's first 2028 Paralympic quota earlier this year.In archery, Paralympic champion Harvinder Singh teamed up with debutant Vijay Sundi to win the men's recurve doubles gold, defeating China's Yun Duo and Zhao Lixue 5-1 in the final.India's women's recurve doubles pair of Bhawna Choudhary and Pooja Jatyan settled for silver after losing 0-6 to China's Gao Zihan and Wang Xueqian.
Swimming contingent exceeds expectations
India's swimmers also exceeded expectations, finishing the Games with 11 medals, including three silver.
Himanshu Nandal completed a hat-trick of bronze medals by finishing third in the men's 100m freestyle S11. 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 had earlier won bronze in the men's 400m freestyle and 100m breaststroke S11 events. Ravi Budigina also finished with three medals, comprising two silver and one bronze.With nine gold medals on Friday and a record overall haul of 114, India signed off from its Asian Para Games campaign with its most successful performance at the continental event, surpassing the benchmark set in Hangzhou three years ago.