Asian Para Games: Paralympics champ Sumit breaks world record as India grab 30 medals on Day 3
Hangzhou, October 25
Reigning Paralympics champion Sumit Antil today bettered his own javelin throw F64 world record with a stunning 73.29 metres effort on way to winning gold as he led India’s whopping 30-medal haul on the third day of competitions at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games.
Placed at sixth spot, one down from Tuesday, India’s total medal count after three days stood at 64 (15 gold, 20 silver, 29 bronze). China was at the top of the tally with 300 medals (118 gold, 96 silver, 86 bronze), followed by Iran (24, 30, 19), Japan (20, 21, 28), Thailand (20, 13, 30) and Uzbekistan (17, 17, 21).
It was the most productive day for India, with 17 out of the 30 medals and all the six gold coming from athletics.
The 25-year-old Antil broke his own previous world record of 70.83m which he had thrown while winning gold at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris earlier this year. Another Indian, Pushpendra Singh, won bronze with a throw of 62.06m.
Ankur Dhama became the first Indian to win two gold medals in a single edition as he clinched the top spot in the men’s T11 1,500m race with a time of 4 minutes and 27.70 seconds. He had also won gold in the men’s T11 5,000m race on Tuesday.
Sundar Singh Gurjar also set a new world record in the men’s F46 javelin throw as he sent his spear to 68.60m en route winning gold. The earlier world record of 67.79m was in the name of Dinesh Mudiyanselage Herath of Sri Lanka. Rinku (67.08m) and Ajeet Singh (63.52m) won silver and bronze, respectively.
It was 1-2 for India in the women’s T11 1,500m event with Rakshitha Raju (5:21.45) and Killaka Lalitha (5:48.85) taking gold and silver, respectively.
