World Para Athletics Championships: India's Yogesh Kathuniya wins silver; Saudi sprinter sets new world record

New Delhi [India], September 30 (ANI): Saudi Arabia's Naif Almasrahi stunned the crowd with a new World Record in the men's 100m T44 final at the World Para Athletics Championships 2025, held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday. Almasrahi clocked an impressive 10.94 seconds on a morning when F56 Discus Thrower Yogesh Kathuniya added a silver to India's kitty.

David Dzhatiev (Neutral Para Athlete) in the men's 200m T35, Davd Jose Pineda Mejia (Spain) in the men's 400m T20 and Tunisia's Yassine Gharbi in the men's 400m T54 accounted for the other three other Championships Records set on Tuesday morning, but the goodly home crowd reveled in cheering Indian F56 Discus Thower Yogesh Kathuniya on each of his throws.

Yogesh Kathuniya, gunning for his maiden gold at the global level, had to settle for silver after each of Brazilian ace Claudiney Batista's six throws were better than the Indian's best effort of 42.49. The 28-year-old Kathuniya picked up his third successive silver medal in the World Championships, in addition to the two silver medals he won in the Paralympic Games.

"It is a different feeling since I won silver on my home ground. Everyone was watching, the family members were also here. There was a lot of pressure in the Paris Paralympics, but here everyone was cheering me on," he said, pointing out that he was not worried about the talk of gold and focused on the process, " Yogesh Kathuniya said as quoted by a press release from the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).

Meanwhile, Yogesh Kathuniya's coach, Lakhwinder Singh, said the medal was the result of planning and execution, though the colour of the medal was not what they had hoped for. "The distance was a little less than his personal best, but we were aiming for a throw between 44m and 45m," he said.

Naif Almarsrahi, who created the sole world record of the morning, said he could not express his feelings. "I wasn't prepared to get this time. In my mind, I was preparing to get to 11 (seconds), but my competitor was running so fast, I had to run faster," he said. "It's hot, but it's similar to where I live in Saudi Arabia. And also, the track is one of the best I have run on."

With an emotional win in the men's 400m T54 final, Tunisia's Yassine Gharbi returned to the global podium after nearly six years. He missed a Paralympic Games and two World Championships in the wake of a ban for testing positive for Boldenone in an out-of-competition test in December 2020. He went without a medal in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

With the Paris 2024 Paralympics gold medalist Dai Yungqiang (China) and silver medalist Athiwat Paeng-Nuea (Thailand) lining up at the start, it promised to be a good race. The Thai athlete, who had set a new Championships Record of 45.01 seconds in the heats, cruised to the lead at the halfway stage, but the Tunisian produced a fantastic second half to break the beam.

It was a second successive World Championships gold medal for David Dzhatiev in the men's 200m T35 final. He drew satisfaction from beating Paris Paralympics champion Ihor Tsvietov (Ukraine) and World record holder Dmitrii Safronov, also a neutral Paralympic athlete, to win the gold medal in 23.01 seconds.

The musical chairs featuring Brazil and China at the top of the medal table continued, with the South American country taking the lead with the gold in the Discus Throw. Brazil now has five gold, 10 silver, and two bronze medals, while China has four gold, seven silver, and four bronze medals. India, with two gold, three silver and a bronze, is in the seventh spot.

The results (finals):

Men:

100m T44: 1. Naif Almasrahi (Saudi Arabia) 10.94 seconds (New World Record. Old WR: 11.00, Mpumelelo Mhlongo, South Africa, 2019); 2. Matheus de Lima (Brazil) 10.99; 3. Marco Cicchetti (Italy) 11.46.

200m T35: 1. David Dzhatiev (Neutral Para Athlete) 23.01 seconds (New Championships Record. Old: 23.04, Ihor Tsvietov, Ukraine, 2019); 2. Dmitrii Safronov (Neutral Para Athlete) 23.13; 3. Ihor Tsvietov (Ukraine) 23.64.

400m T20: 1. David Jose Pineda Mejia (Spain) 47.12 seconds (New Championships Record. Old: 47.45, David Jose Pineda Mejia, 2025); 2. Daniel Tavares Martins (Brazil) 47.50; 3. Idris Sufyani (Saudi Arabia) 47.55.

400m T54: 1. Yassine Gharbi (Tunisia) 44.96 seconds (New Championships Record. Old: 45.01, Athiwat Paeng-Nuea, Thailand, 2025); 2. Athiwat Paeng-Nuea (Thailand) 45.29; 3. Dai Yunqiang (China) 45.44.

1500m T13: 1. Joel Gomez (USA) 3:57.71; 2. Aleksandr Kostin (Neutral Para Athlete) 3:57.80; 3. Jaryd Clifford (Australia) 3:58.87.

Long Jump T12: 1. Fernando Vazquez (Argentina) 7.01m; 2. Iher Sauchuk (Neutral Para Athlete) 6.89; 3. Andreas Walser (Germany) 6.81.

Shot Put F41: 1. Niko Kappel (Germany) 13.34m; 2. Bobirjon Omonov (Uzbekistan) 12.36; 3. Aiaal Sivtsev (Neutral Para Athlete) 11.98.

Discus Throw F56: 1. Claudiney Batista (Brazil) 45.67m; 2. Yogesh Kathuniya (India) 42.49; 3. Konstantinos Tzounis (Greece) 39.97.

Women:

Shot Put F54: 1. Gloria Zarca (Mexico) 7.97m; 2. Elizabeth Rodrigues Gomes (Brazil) 7.78; 3. Elham Salehi (Iran) 7.17; 6. Keerthika Jayachandran (India) 6.25. (ANI)

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