Indians clinch 17 medals, including six gold, to begin Para Asian Games campaign in style
Hangzhou, (PTI): India picked up a whopping 17 medals, including six gold, with star shooter Avani Lekhara leading the way as the country ended the opening day of competitions at fourth spot in the Asian Para Games here on Monday.
India (6 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze) are behind hosts China (31 gold, 29 silver, 23 bronze), Iran (9 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze) and Uzbekistan (6 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze) in the medals tally.
As expected, track and field events contributed the most -- 11 medals (including five gold) out of the 17 on offer.
The day began with the Indians sweeping all the three medals in men's club throw F51 event with Pranav Soorma winning the gold.
The 29-year-old Soorma broke the Asian Para Games record with an effort of 30.01m while Dharambir (28.76m) and Amit Kumar (26.93m) were second and third respectively.
There were only four competitors in the event with Saudi Arabia's Radhi Ali Alharthi finishing last with a throw of 23.77m.
Soorma suffered a spinal cord injury after an accident when he was 16 and that left him paralysed. But that did not deter him from taking up para sports, and he won a silver medal at the 2019 Beijing World Para Athletics Grand Prix event.
The F51 club throw event is for athletes who have movement affected to a high degree in the trunk, legs and hands. All the competitors compete while seated and rely on their shoulders and arm to generate power.
Later in the day, Avani made history as she clinched gold in the women's R2 10m air rifle standing SH1 category with a games record score of 249.6.
"This gold is very special for me because this is my first medal in the Asian Para Games. This Asian Para Games is part of my preparations for the 2024 Paralympics," Avani said after winning gold.
The other Indian para shooter Mona Agarwal finished sixth in the standings.
Rudransh Khandelwal added a medal in shooting by winning a silver in P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 event.
Born in Jaipur in November 2001, Avani met with a road accident in 2012 that made her wheelchair-bound ever since.
Inspired by Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, her shooting career took off in 2015, and she has never looked back.
Avani burst into the limelight with her stupendous show at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics where she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the Summer Games. There, Avani also won a bronze medal in the 50m rifle 3 positions.
Three Indians also finished 1-2-3 in the men's high jump T63 category but only gold and silver were awarded under Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) rules.
The three Indians were the only competitors in the event and under APC's 'minus one rule', Shailesh Kumar won the gold with an Asian Para Games record jump of 1.82m while Mariyappan Thangavelu (1.80m) took the silver.
Govindbhai Ramsingbhai Padhiyar (1.78m) cannot win a bronze under APC rules.
At least four athletes need to be in the fray to award all the three medals.
"In exceptional case where only three or fewer athletes compete, medal will be awarded following the 'minus-one rule'. For example, if an event is finalised by 2 athletes/teams only, only gold medal will be allocated," according to the APC rule book.
The 23-year-old Kumar had won a silver in the World Para Athletics Championships earlier this year while Thangavelu was fourth. Both have qualified for next year's Paris Paralympics.
Thangavelu had won a gold medal in high jump T42 category in 2016 Rio Paralympics and silver in T63 in Tokyo Paralympics.
In T63 classification, athletes with a single leg above the knee amputation compete with a prosthesis.
Nishad Kumar won India's third gold of the day in men's high jump T47 class as he cleared a height of 2.02m while compatriot Ram Pal took the bronze with an effort of 1.94m.
The T47 classification is meant for athletes with a below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment.
Nishad, a farmer's son in Amb town in Himachal Pradesh's Una district, got his right hand severed by a grass-cutting machine at his family's farm when he was an eight-year-old.
Ankur Dhama and Praveen Kumar clinched a gold each in men's 5000m T11 and high jump T64 events to complete the Indian medal rush.
Ankur clocked 16:37.29 to win the race competed by runners with a near-total visual impairment.
Praveen cleared a games record height of 2.02m to win gold in the event meant for athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics in a standing position. Another Indian, Renu Unni took the high jump T64 bronze.
Monu Ghangas won the bronze medal in men's shot put F11 event with an effort of 12.33m.
In women's canoe VL2 event, Prachi Yadav won a silver with a time of 1:03.147.
In judo, Kapil Parmar picked up a silver in men's 60kg J1 event while Kokila won a bronze on women's 48kg J2 class.
In taekwondo, Aruna picked up a bronze medal in women's 47kg K44 event.
In para sports, athletes are classified according to the degree of activity limitation resulting from the impairment. Classification determines which athletes are eligible to compete in a particular event. This is done to ensure fair competition.
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Cong leader Prithviraj Chavan defiant after facing verbal missiles on Op Sindoor remarks
Mumbai (PTI): Despite facing criticism, senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday stood by his controversial comments that India faced a "total defeat" in aerial fight with Pakistan on the first day of Operation Sindoor on May 7.
The former Union minister refused to apologise for his comments on the Indian military operation against terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK in aftermath of massacre of tourists at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir in April.
Talking to reporters in Pune on Tuesday, Chavan claimed India faced a "total defeat in the aerial fight (with Pakistan) on May 7 which lasted for half-an-hour".
"One may believe this or not. After that the Indian Air Force got grounded and not a single aircraft took flight that day.... be it Gwalior, Bhatinda or Sirsa, there was a possibility of aircraft being shot down, so our complete Air Force was grounded," the former Maharashtra chief minister had said.
Hitting out at Chavan, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde accused the Congress of speaking the language of Pakistan. He said questioning the military action was akin to demoralising the morale of armed forces.
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"The criticism does not stem from the love of the nation, but love for Pakistan," said the chief leader of the Shiv Sena, a key constituent of the BJP-led NDA.
Chavan, however, remained defiant.
"There is no question of apologising. The Constitution has given me the right to ask questions," the Congress veteran asserted.
Chavan also questioned the need of having a 12-lakh strong Army when future wars will be about aerial combats and missiles. "During Operation Sindoor we saw that there was no movement of the Army even for a kilometre," he had said.
BJP Lok Sabha MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra said Chavan's remarks are loaded with sedition.
"He (Chavan) has refused to apologise. The Indian armed forces struck 100 kms inside the Pakistan territory and destroyed 11 air strips (of the Pakistani Air Force). He made remarks that the Indian Army did not even move an inch (during the military operation). This is nothing but a statement full of sedition, a statement of a traitor," Patra said, lashing out at the Congress leader.
The BJP spokesperson maintained the Congress appears to be standing with Chavan and alleged the Opposition party is playing into foreign hands.
Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should apologise for it, he added.
Union minister Giriraj Singh of the BJP insisted it was not right to devalue the valour of Indian armed forces.
Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh suggested that wherever armed forces are concerned, every Indian should be mindful of statements they make and ensure their comments do not demoralise the military.
Operation Sindoor was a result of "mistakes of politicians", he claimed.
TDP MP Krishna Devraylu said after the poll defeat in Bihar, the Congress is rattled and their leaders have been talking absurdly.
"Chavan's remarks are a prime example of this. This kind of disrespect to our armed forces is not necessary. If the Congress is angry with the NDA, it should show it in a different way and not drag armed forces into it," Devraylu opined.
AAP MP Ashok Mittal said such statements should not be made by any senior politician, especially by someone who has been a former chief minister.
The Indian armed forces registered a strong victory and destroyed terror launchpads in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, Mittal added.
