Asian Para Games 2026: India open the golden gates

–> –> Today’s E-paper Sports Other Sports + Add to My Mid-day –> Asian Para Games 2026: India open the golden gates 20 October,2026 09:31 AM IST |  Aichi-Nagoya  |  PTI

Mona Agarwal, Soumya Kumar, Rinku Hooda and Nishad Kumar. Pics/PCOI

[popcorn number=”4″ desc=”India’s position in the medals table with four gold, five silver and two bronze” class=”Default”]

India were off to a spectacular start at the Asian Para Games with medals, including four gold, pouring in from four different sports, following assured performances by established names like wheelchair-bound shooter Mona Agarwal and long jumper Nishad Kumar here on Monday.

Soumya Kumar and Rinku Hooda added two more gold medals in the 1500m and javelin throw events, respectively.

In all, India collected 11 medals – four gold, five silver and two bronze – to be fourth in the overall standings.

The medal rush began quite early in the day with Mona staging a stirring comeback in the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1) final to beat compatriot Avani Lekhara for the gold. Mona, a bronze-medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, climbed from sixth place to set an Asian Para Games record of 250.0, edging two-time Paralympic champion Avani by a mere 0.4 points.

The 24-year-old Avani, who entered as the defending champion, settled for the silver with 249.6.

Her medal also secured India a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, with Mona having already earned one at the World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Championships in Changwon, South Korea last month where she won a silver.

The evening belonged to the para-athletics competitors with two-time Paralympic silver-winner Nishad, middle-distance runner Soumya, and javelin thrower Rinku finishing on top. For Nishad, it was a very special performance as he was competing in an international long jump event for the first time in his career. Nishad, whose right arm was severed by a grass-cutting machine in an accident when he was six, leapt 7.11m to claim top spot.

In the women’s 1500m T12/T13 event, the visually impaired Soumya clocked a personal best of 5:12.39sec to win the gold ahead of compatriot Venkatesh Radha (5:30.90sec).

In the F46 men’s javelin throw, India dominated a three-man field with Rinku and Ajeet Singh bagging the gold and silver with efforts of 65.11m and 65.02m respectively. It was a season’s best throw for both. The F46 is for athletes with a single amputation below or above the elbow, moderately affected movement in one or both arms, or equivalent upper-limb impairments.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever