Yogesh Kathuniya bags second consecutive Paralympic silver in men's discus throw F-56 event
Paris, Sep 2: India's Yogesh Kathuniya clinched his second consecutive Paralympic silver medal in men's discus throw F-56 event with a season's best effort 42.22m at the ongoing Games here on Monday.
The 27-year-old hurled the discus to the podium-clinching distance in his very first attempt to add to the silver he won in the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago.
Brazil's Claudiney Batista dos Santos registered a hat-trick of Paralympic gold medals, creating a new Games record with an effort of 46.86m in his fifth attempt.
Greece's Konstantinos Tzounis won the bronze with 41.32m.
The F-56 classification covers limb deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power and impaired range of movement.
At the age of 9, Kathuniya developed the Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune condition which causes numbness, tingling and muscle weakness that can progress to paralysis.
He was bound to the wheelchair during his childhood but overcame the odds with the help of his mother Meena Devi, who learnt physiotherapy to help him regain muscle strength to walk again. His father has served in the Indian Army.
Kathuniya is a commerce graduate from Delhi's prestigious Kirori Mal College.
Besides two Paralympic silver medals, he has three world championship medals, including two silver and a bronze.
On Monday, Kathuniya won't be satisfied with his performance given that he won the silver in Tokyo with a much better effort of 44.38m.
Kathuniya's toughest competitor, the 45-year-old Dos Santos broke the Paralympic record twice on Monday, first registering 46.45m in his second attempt and then hurling the discus to 46.86m in his penultimate throw.
Dos Santos is a three-time world championships gold-medallist, and has also held the Paralympic record of 45.59m in this category which he achieved in the last edition in Tokyo.
Slovakia's Dusan Laczko finished fourth and last with a best effort of 41.20m.
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KKR defeat LSG via Super Over
Lucknow (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders edged Lucknow Super Giants via Super Overs in a battle between two bottom-placed teams in the IPL, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 156, LSG suffered a batting collapse and managed to tie the contest and take it to Super Over with No. 9 Mohammed Shami striking a last-ball six against a wayward Kartik Tyagi, who leaked 16 runs in the final over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a stunning Super Over conceding just one run and taking two wickets to give KKR an easy target.
Rinku Singh then finished the chase with a boundary off first ball from Prince Yadav.
Earlier the KKR were in deep trouble with 93/7 in 15 overs but Rinku smashed a sensational 83 not out from 51 balls including four sixes in a row in the final over to lift them to 155/7.
Cameron Green (34) was the only other batter to reach double-digit scores as KKR suffered a familiar batting meltdown with Mohsin taking his maiden fifer.
In reply, LSG continued their dismal show with the bat to succumb to their fifth loss in a row.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7; 20 overs (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23). Lucknow Super Giants 155/8; 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 42). KKR won via Super Over.
