Nishad Kumar and Mona Agarwal (Pic credit: X)
NEW DELHI: India made a spectacular start to the Asian Para Games, collecting 11 medals, including four gold, across shooting, athletics, judo and swimming on Monday to occupy fourth place in the overall standings.Established stars Mona Agarwal and Nishad Kumar led the charge, while middle-distance runner Soumya and javelin thrower Rinku also finished on top of the podium. India celebrated three 1-2 finishes, with compatriots sharing the gold and silver medals in shooting, athletics and javelin.The opening day also brought encouraging news from archery, table tennis and badminton, with Sheetal Devi matching the world record in the women’s compound qualification round and several Indian paddlers and shuttlers assuring themselves of medals by reaching the semifinals.
Mona beats Avani in shooting thriller
The medal rush began with a stirring comeback from Mona in the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 final. The Paris Paralympics bronze medallist climbed from sixth place to set an Asian Para Games record of 250.0 points, edging compatriot Avani Lekhara by just 0.4 points.Avani, the defending champion and a two-time Paralympic gold medallist, settled for silver with 249.6 points, giving India its first 1-2 finish of the day.Mona topped qualification with 629.1 points, setting an Asian Para Games qualification record, while Avani was second with 626.4.
The victory also secured India a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Mona had already earned one quota at the World Shooting Para Sport World Championships in Changwon, South Korea, last month, where she won silver.
Nishad, Soumya and Rinku power athletics gold rush
The athletics arena delivered three gold medals and a series of podium finishes as India continued its strong start.Nishad, a two-time Paralympic silver medallist, produced a memorable performance to win the men’s T47 long jump with an effort of 7.11m.
It was the Indian’s first international competition in the long jump, making his gold medal all the more special.Nishad lost his right arm in an accident involving a grass-cutting machine when he was six years old. He nevertheless dominated the competition, recording 7.11m twice to finish ahead of Uzbekistan’s Omadbek Khasanov, who won silver with a season-best 6.99m.Soumya added another gold in the women’s 1500m T12/T13 event, clocking a personal-best 5:12.39.
Running alongside guide Bharath Kumar, she finished ahead of compatriot Venkatesh Radha, who took silver in 5:30.90. The result gave India its second 1-2 finish of the day.Japan’s Mana Sasaki recorded a faster time of 5:12.15 in the T13 category but finished behind the Indian athletes in the combined event after the results were determined by classification-based points.India completed its third 1-2 finish in the men’s F46 javelin throw, where Rinku clinched gold with a season-best effort of 65.11m.
Ajeet Singh followed closely with 65.02m, also a season best, to take silver. Indonesia’s Rizal Bagus Saktyono won bronze with a personal-best throw of 55.30m.India also won a bronze in the women’s 1500m T11 event through Ravanni Valasanaini, who clocked a personal-best 5:41.85 to finish third. Her compatriot Rakshitha Raju, who recorded a faster time of 5:31.45, was disqualified.
Judokas add silver and bronze; swimming chips in
India’s visually impaired judokas contributed two more medals.
Kokila won silver in the women’s J2 -52kg category after losing to Kyrgyzstan’s Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy in the final.Kapil Parmar claimed bronze in the men’s J1 -70kg division. After losing his semifinal 0-1 to Indonesia’s Junaedi, Kapil bounced back in the bronze-medal playoff to beat another Indonesian, Ahnaf Rafli Shidqi, 1-0.India’s medal count rose further when Ravi Karthik Budigina won silver in the men’s 100m freestyle S13 para swimming event. He clocked 56.68 seconds to finish behind Uzbekistan’s Egor Bolotov, who won gold in 52.90 seconds. Kazakhstan’s Viktor Volkov took bronze in 57.23 seconds.These results took India’s confirmed medal haul to four gold, five silver and two bronze by the end of the opening day.