INDIA’S para-athletes surpassed all expectations to deliver their best ever show at the Asian Para Games, ending their campaign with a mammoth haul of 114 medals, including 30 gold, following a record-shattering final day flourish here on Friday. India had sent 168 athletes for this edition, which was nearly half of the contingent size that went to the Hangzhou Games in 2023 and returned with the then best ever of 108 medals, including 27 gold. For the first time in the ongoing Games, para-athletics was not the dominant gold contributor with shuttlers, archers and shooter Mona Agarwal doing their bit to shore up the overall tally on India’s final day that closed with 30 gold, 35 silver, and 49 bronze. India are currently placed fourth on the table but the position might change given that finals in a few events would be conducted on Saturday and the country does not have a presence in any of those competitions.

 

On the last day of their campaign, India collected nine gold medals, their highest single-day haul in the ongoing edition, with top finishes registered in archery, shooting, badminton and athletics. Athletics, as always, ended up being the driving force snaring 65 medals in all, 12 more than 2023. On Friday though, shuttlers ensured that the limelight was shared as they delivered three gold medals, including individual top finishes by Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and Naveen Sivakumar. While the seasoned Nitesh clinched gold in the men’s singles SL3 class and silver in mixed doubles SL3-SU5 event, Games debutant Naveen topped the men’s singles SL4 category. Murugesan, meanwhile, capped a memorable day with a gold and two silver medals, clinching the women’s doubles title.

 

Thulasimathi had earlier won silver in women’s singles SU5, losing 18-21 11-21 to Yang Qiuxia in the final. In athletics, Sandeep and Haney won gold medals with world record performances in the men’s 400m T64 and men’s javelin throw F37/38 events. Another standout performance was from the reigning Paralympic and world champion Sumit Antil, who led an Indian sweep of the men’s javelin throw F42-44/61-64 combined event with a best effort of 72.46m. Finishing behind him were Mahendra Gurjar (59.03m) and Sanjay Sandeep Sargar (64.48m). Gurjar ended ahead of Sargar due to the more severe nature of his disability in the classifications that cover congenital limb difference or surgical amputation. The wheelchair-bound Pranav Soorma picked up the last gold of the day for India by winning the men’s club throw event with a Games record effort of 32.87m.