India betters Kobe mark as Ekta, Soman, Praveen win medals

There were many smiling officials of the Paralympics Committee of India on Saturday. The reason was simple: with Soman Rana winning a medal in the men’s shot put F57 category, the Indian contingent had officially crossed its best ever tally of 17 medals, which was won in Kobe, Japan, in 2024. Rana’s medal was the 18th and with a final competition still left, there is a chance that the tally will rise further.

Jubilations apart, both Ekta Bhyan, who was the defending champion in the women’s club throw F51 category, and Praveen Kumar, who is the reigning Paralympics gold medallist in men’s T64 high jump, were far from satisfied with their performances.

Ekta finished second with a season’s best attempt of 19.80 metres. Ukraine’s Zoia Ovsii won the gold with a big throw of 24.03m and Neutral Athlete Ekaterina Potapova finished third with a best attempt of 18.60m.

The 40-year-old Hisar athlete said she was not happy with her first three attempts in the final today.

“I was not satisfied with my first three throws. I was under a lot of pressure. I drank a lot of water. I took a deep breath. I did not feel good in my fourth throw,” she said.

“My goal was to win a gold medal. My preparation was good. I was expecting to cross 21m but I could not do so well. I am hopeful that I will win the Asian Games,” she added.

She confirmed that there was some pressure on her as she was defending her title at home.

“Yes there was a bit of pressure as a defending champion or there were a lot of expectations but we overcame it. This is the beauty of sport. You have to overcome your challenges,” she said.

In the men’s high jump T64 final, Praveen finished third with a best attempt of 2.00 metres. At one point, the Indian was in the reckoning for at least a silver medal but Great Britain’s Jonathan Broom-Edwards cleared the 2-metre mark in his very first attempt to climb into second. Uzbekistan’s Temurbek Giyazov, who crossed 2.03m in his very first attempt, won the gold medal.

Praveen, who also has a silver medal from the Tokyo Games, was disheartened that he could not perform to his full potential. He said that he had suffered a back injury 10 days before the competition and that hampered his progression. He felt the pain on Saturday as well.

“I am not happy as I was easily clearing the 2.03m during training sessions. However I suffered a back injury and I thank my physiotherapist for helping me compete here as I was on bed rest for a few days,” Praveen said. “I was doing alright today but then I felt the pain again while trying to clear the two-metre mark. From then on, I was not comfortable.”

Rana got a wonderful surprise after he was upgraded from bronze to silver medal position. Brazil’s Thiago Dos Santos, who had finished second with a best attempt of 14.82, has been placed fifth. Dos Santos’ best attempt is being shown as a foul attempt in the upgraded result sheet. The Brazilian contingent has filed a protest at the decision to downgrade Dos Santos’ result.

As a result, Rana and Finland’s Tejio Koopikka have been upgraded to silver and bronze medal positions. Iran’s Yasin Khosravi won the gold medal with a new world record attempt of 16.60m

However, India’s Hokato Hotozhe Sema, who won bronze in the Paris Paralympics, finished a disappointing sixth with a best throw of 14.35m.