Nagoya: Nishad Kumar added a gold medal in the high jump to the one he won in the long jump for a magical double; Simran Sharma’s won the 200m T12 in 24.80 seconds, while Baby Sahana Ravi claimed a historic bronze in para table tennis Class 9 as India had another successful day at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday.
India racked up nine gold, 11 silver, and 15 bronze medals for a total of 35 by the end of Day Two of competitions and moved to sixth place in the medal tally, which is being led by China with 149 medals (70 gold, 44 silver and 35 bronze), with Uzbekistan following second with 56 (17-21-18). Hosts Japan are placed third with 63 medals, including 16 gold, 20 silver and 27 bronze.
Nishad Kumar clinched his second gold medal in the ongoing Asian Para Games as he won the top prize in the Men’s High Jump T47 at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium on Tuesday.
Nishad won the gold medal with a new Games Record as he cleared the 2.04m mark in the final. The previous record belonged to Thailand’s Angkarn Chanaboon, who had leapt to the mark of 2.01m at the Jakarta 2018 Games.
He also holds the Asian record of 2.14m that he set during the World Para Athletics Championships 2025 in New Delhi. The world record belongs to America’s Roderick Townsend-Roberts, at 2.16 m.
Nishad had won a gold in the Men’s T47 long jump event at the Games with a best effort of 7.11m. Known primarily for his achievements in the high jump, Nishad made an emphatic statement in a discipline that remains secondary to his speciality. His winning distance proved beyond the reach of the competition, with the Indian recording 7.11m twice during the final to establish his superiority.
Baby Sahara Ravi was the other big gainer on the day as she won a maiden medal for the country in para-table tennis women’s Singles Class 9.
She went down 0-3 to China’s Mao Jingdian in the women’s singles Class 9 semi-finals to secure a bronze medal.
Hailing from Hosur in Tamil Nadu, Sahana took up table tennis in 2014 while studying in Class 5. In 2015, she joined the Coronation Club under coach Raj Aravindan Alagar, her first coach, who nurtured her passion for the sport.
She discontinued regular schooling after Class 9 and continued her studies through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), training 6–8 hours a day.
Simran wins gold, Tejalben bags bronze
India clinched a double podium finish in the women’s 200m T12 category, with Paralympic medallist Simran Sharma winning gold and debutant Tejalben Damor bagging bronze on Tuesday.
Simran set a new Games record with 24.80 seconds to secure a podium spot, finishing ahead of Iran’s Hajjar Safarzadeh, who recorded 25.02 seconds.
Simran, a Paris Paralympic 2024 bronze medallist in the T12 category and a world champion in the 100m, improved from silver in Hangzhou 2022 (26.12 seconds) to gold in 2026, improving her time by 1.32 seconds.
Tejalben, a visually impaired T12 para-athlete from Gujarat, also delivered a commendable performance, securing third place with a time of 25.23 seconds and achieving a personal best (PB).
India continued to reap rich rewards, making a clean sweep of the podium in Men’s Discus Throw in F43/F44/F62/F64, with Devender Kumar winning gold with 49.71m in the F44 category, Rakesh bagging silver with 49.35m in the F44 category, and Pradeep Kumar securing bronze with a personal best of 51.15m in the F64 category.
There was also a double podium in Men’s Discus Throw F51/52/52. Pranav Soorma struck gold with a New Asian Record of 11.66m, while Ram Ratan Singh bagged silver with 10.35m.
In the Men’s Shot Put F56/F57 Final, Hokato Hotozhe Sema won a bronze medal with a throw of 14.65m, earning 999 points in the process.
There were medals for India in swimming through Niranjan Mukundan in the Men’s 200m IM SM7 and in shooting too with Manish Narwal.
(IANS)
