Tokyo Paralympics: Setting the bar higher

Tokyo, August 29

High jumper Nishad Kumar and discus thrower Vinod Kumar clinched a silver and a bronze respectively with Asian records as India began collecting what is expected to be an unprecedented haul of athletics medals at the Paralympics here today.

The 21-year-old Nishad, who is a farmer’s son in Himachal Pradesh’s Amb town, cleared 2.06m to win the silver in the T47 Class before 41-year-old BSF man Vinod, whose father fought in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War, produced a best throw of 19.91m to clinch a bronze in the F52 event.

However, Vinod’s result has been challenged by some other competitors, who have objected to his classification in the F52 category. “Results are currently under review. The victory ceremony has been postponed to the 30th,” read a statement from the Games organisers.

Nishad, whose right hand got cut by a grass-cutting machine at his family’s farm when he was an eight-year-old, cleared the same height of 2.06m with American Dallas Wise who was also awarded a silver. The second Indian in the fray, Ram Pal, finished fifth with a best jump of 1.94m. USA’s Roderick Townsend, won the gold with a world record jump of 2.15m.

Bhavinaben creates history

Bhavinaben Patel became only the second Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics after she signed off with a historic silver following a 3-0 loss to world No. 1 Chinese paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles table tennis Class 4 final.

The 34-year-old impressive run ended with a fighting 7-11 5-11 6-11 loss to Zhou, a two-time gold medallist, in the women’s singles final which lasted 19 minutes.

Deepa Malik, president of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), was the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Games when she had claimed a silver in shot put in Rio five years back.

Archers off the mark

Indian challenge ended in the compound mixed pair open section of the archery competition after the duo of Rakesh Kumar and Jyoti Baliyan made a quarterfinals exit after losing to Turkish opponents Oznur Cure and Bulent Korkmaz by 151-153 in an intriguing contest. — PTI