It was a day of rare and delightful sporting highs for India at the Paralympic Games as the country won an unprecedented 5 medals - 2 gold, 2 silver and a bronze - in a single day in Tokyo. The winners also included the country’s first-ever Paralympic gold medal winning woman athlete in shooter Avani Lekhara.
The day’s developments took India’s total medal tally to 7, their best ever at a Paralympic Games, raising hopes of ushering in a revolution for differently-abled athletes in a country where even ramps for the disabled are a rarity in public places. At the Rio Games in 2016, India had won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. “I can’t describe this feeling. I am on top of the world,” said Avini, speaking for all of the medal winners. Avani started the day for India with a gold and javelin thrower Sumit Antil ended it with another, along with a world record.
India’s tally could have been higher but they lost a bronze after athlete Vinod Kumar, who had finished third in discus (F52) on Sunday, was found ineligible in disability classification assessment. Avani equalled the world record while winning the gold in women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1, while Antil bagged the top finish in men’s javelin (F64), beating his own world record by almost 6 metres. Yogesh Kathuniya won one of the two silvers in men’s discus (F56) while the other was won by the indefatigable Devendra Jhajharia in men’s javelin (F46) event. In the same javelin event, Sundar Singh Gurjar claimed bronze.
The 19-year-old Avani, who suffered spinal cord injuries following a car crash in 2012, showed what it takes for a shooter to finish on the podium at the Games by winning the gold quite convincingly. After qualifying for the final as the 7th of the 8 shooters, she raised her game when it mattered most. She took the lead after the first round of five shots in the final and, barring for one round, maintained it. She finished with 249.6 points, ahead of Cuiping Zhang of China (248.9). Ukraine’s Iryna Shchetnik took the bronze.
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Sumit Antil started with a world record – 66.9m – before bettering it twice in the next four throws. His first one was followed by efforts of 68.08m, 65.27m, 66.71m and 68.55m, leaving no chance to his rivals. The earlier record – 62.88m – was also in his name which he had set in Dubai in 2019.
Sadeep, another Indian in the fray, finished fourth with a best of 62.20. “This is my first Paralympics and I was a little nervous. I was hoping for a 70-metre-plus throw, maybe I can do 75m. It was not my best, but I am very happy to break the world record,” Sumit said.
Kathuniya had three fouls in his six attempts, but his last throw was 44.38m and it was good enough to push him to second position, behind Claudiney Batista of Brazil, who had 45.59, also in his last throw. An elated Yogesh later said that he was hoping his medal will help him get a job. “I hope I can get a job now. That will be very nice,” the 24-year-old Kathuniya said. Jhajharia followed his Rio gold with a silver, with a personal best of 64.35m. But the effort was not enough to earn him his third Paralympics gold.
Silver for Nishad, Bhavina Patel
Indian athletes excelled on Sunday with Nishad Kumar winning the high jump (T47) silver while Vinod Kumar finished third in men’s discus (F52) but was made to wait for his bronze medal confirmation as a protest was lodged. Meanwhile, Bhavina Patel lost 0-3 to world no. 1 Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles class 4 final, and had to settle for silver. It was a memorable evening for 21-year-old Nishad from Himachal, son of a marginal farmer, who clinched his medal with an Asian record of 2.06m. It was not Bhavina's day as her fans back at home in Gujarat waited with bated breath for a gold medal in table tennis at the Paralympics on Sunday. Though the 34-year-old gave her all in the summit clash, she went down in straight sets to world No.1 Zhou Ying of China in the final, ending her singles campaign with a deserved silver medal.
Bhavina, however, became only the second Indian female athlete to win a medal in the Paralympics after Deepa Malik, who bagged silver in shot put F43 in 2016. The para paddler said, “I gave 100% in the final. Though I could not win the gold, I am satisfied with my overall performance. That I have created history by winning a medal in table tennis at the Paralympics is in itself a huge achievement.” The doubles event begins on August 31 and Bhavina will be partnering Sonal Patel, who lost in the group stage in the singles. “We will give our best and try to win another medal for India,” said Bhavina.
The Vadnagar-born athlete, who is now a resident of Ahmedabad, was determined to change the narrative in the final and she matched Zhou stroke for stroke from the word go. But Zhou, a seasoned campaigner on the big stage, broke away at 3-3 in the opening game and maintained the lead to pocket the first game and never relaxed her grip for the rest of the match.
