India concluded their para-athletics campaign at the Asian Para Games with a record-breaking 65 medals on Friday, with two-time Paralympic champion Sumit Antil among four gold medallists on the final day of competition.
The 62-member Indian contingent finished with 22 gold, 19 silver and 24 bronze medals, surpassing the country's previous best of 53 medals, comprising 16 gold, 17 silver and 20 bronze, at the Hangzhou edition.
India finished second in the para-athletics medal standings behind China, who collected 98 medals, including 54 gold, 24 silver and 20 bronze.
Uzbekistan finished with 64 medals, including 20 gold, while hosts Japan secured 51 medals, including 19 gold.
India added 13 medals on the final day, including four gold, three silver and six bronze, to complete their most successful Asian Para Games para-athletics campaign.
๐๐ป๐๐ถ๐น ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ
Antil, who won Paralympic gold medals in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, successfully defended his Asian Para Games title with a commanding performance in the men's javelin throw F42-44/61-64 combined event.
The 28-year-old reigning world champion and world record holder registered a best throw of 72.46 metres to claim gold in the F64 classification.
India swept the podium as Mahendra Gurjar secured silver with 59.03 metres and Sandip Sanjay Sargar claimed bronze with 64.48 metres.
Gurjar, competing in the F42 classification, finished ahead of Sargar, who competed in F44, because of his higher Raza points score, which determines rankings in combined classification events.
Born in Khewra village near Sonipat in Haryana, Antil initially aspired to become a wrestler before a road accident in 2015 changed the course of his sporting career.
He lost his left leg after his motorcycle was struck by a speeding truck while returning from tuition classes. He subsequently took up para-athletics and went on to become one of India's most successful Paralympians.
๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ, ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐
Sandeep and Haney produced world record performances to secure two more gold medals for India.
Sandeep clocked 52.28 seconds in the men's 400 metres T64 final, finishing ahead of Saudi Arabia's Nour Alsana, who took silver in 53.13 seconds.
India's Ajay Kumar secured bronze with a timing of 53.61 seconds.
In the men's javelin throw F37/38 event, Haney registered a world record throw of 60.49 metres, earning 1,116 Raza points to claim gold.
Iran's Hormoz Seidikazpounji won silver with a personal best of 50.68 metres and 1,009 points, while China's Yu Chengjie took bronze with an Asian record throw of 53.66 metres and 943 points.
Although Yu registered a longer throw than the Iranian, Seidikazpounji finished ahead because of the classification-based points system used in the combined event.
๐ฆ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฏ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐น๐ฒ
Pranav Soorma secured India's fourth gold medal of the day by successfully defending his title in the men's club throw F51 event.
The Paris Paralympics silver medallist produced a Games record throw of 32.87 metres to finish comfortably ahead of the field.
South Korea's Jiwon Jung claimed silver with 28.40 metres, while India's Dharamvir secured bronze with 27.71 metres.
The F51 classification includes athletes with significant impairments affecting movement in the trunk, legs and hands, who compete in seated throwing events.
๐ก๐ถ๐บ๐ถ๐๐ต๐ฎ, ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฟ
Nimisha Chakkungalparambil and Parmod Bijarnia added two silver medals in the women's long jump T47 and men's 1500 metres T46 events, respectively.
Nimisha recorded a best leap of 5.37 metres to finish second behind Sri Lanka's Dhananjana Wickramasinghe, who established a Games record of 5.52 metres. China's Chen Jin took bronze with 5.17 metres.
In the men's 1500 metres T46 final, Parmod clocked 4:09.65 to claim silver.
Sri Lanka's Puwakpitikande P Wahumpurage won gold with a Games record timing of 4:03.25, finishing 6.40 seconds ahead of the Indian.
The T47 classification covers athletes with upper-limb impairments affecting one arm, while T46 includes athletes with more significant upper-limb impairments.
๐ฆ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐
India's bronze medallists on Friday were Sandeep in the men's 100 metres T44, Rakeshbhai Bhatt in the men's 200 metres T37, Ajay Kumar in the men's 400 metres T64, Navdeep Singh in the men's javelin throw F40/F41, Dharamvir in the men's club throw F51 and Sandip Sanjay Sargar in the men's javelin throw F42-44/61-64.
The final day's performances capped a successful campaign for India, which surpassed its previous Asian Para Games para-athletics medal tally by 12 medals.
The 22 gold medals also marked a significant improvement over the 16 gold medals won in Hangzhou, underlining the contingent's progress across track and field events.
With world record performances, successful title defences and multiple podium finishes, India's para-athletes completed the competition with their highest-ever medal haul at the continental event.