Sumit defends title, Indian tally swells to 10 medals

Kobe (Japan), May 21

Reigning Paralympics champion Sumit Antil today defended his F64 javelin throw title while Thangavelu Mariyappan and Ekta Bhyan also grabbed gold medals as India jumped to third place in the World Para Athletics Championships. With five medals won on the fifth day, India’s tally swelled to 10 (4 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) and the country is currently placed below China (15 gold, 13 silver, 13 bronze) and Brazil (14 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze).

Antil, who had won gold medals in the Tokyo Paralympics and 2023 World Championships, sent his spear to a distance of 69.50 metres. The 25-year-old Haryana is the current world record holder courtesy his 73.29m throw in the Para Asian Games. Compatriot Sandeep won the bronze medal with a throw of 60.41m.

Tokyo Paralympics silver winner Mariyappan won the T63 high jump event with a championship record of 1.88m. The 28-year-old had won the T42 high jump gold in the 2016 Paralympics.

Ekta secured the gold medal with a season’s best throw of 20.12m in the women’ F51 club throw competition. The 38-year-old Ekta is a Haryana Civil Services officer. Kashish Lakra took the silver medal with an effort of 14.56m. — PTI

Relay teams win silver medals

Bangkok: Fielding under-strength teams after having qualified for the Paris Olympics, both the men’s and women’s 4x400m quartets finished second at the inaugural Asian Relay Championships. The women’s team of Vithya Ramraj, MR Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Rupal Chaudhary clocked 3 minutes, 33.55 seconds to finish behind Vietnam (3:30.81). The men’s quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Santosh Kumar, Mijo Chacko Kurian and Arokia Rajiv clocked 3:05.76 to finish second behind Sri Lanka (3:04.48).