India has surged up the standings at the Asian Para Games that are underway in Aichi-Nagoya, which will run till Oct 24. It is now fourth in the medal tally with 71 medals: 16 gold, 22 silver, and 33 bronze.
That includes Games records in the shot put and the high jump, and India swept the podium in one shot put event. India sent just 168 athletes, far fewer than the 309 it brought to Hangzhou in 2023, but it is still aiming for around 100 medals for the first time.
The closest finish came in shooting. India’s Mona Agarwal beat two-time Paralympic champion Avani Lekhara by just 0.4 points in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1, giving India a one-two finish. SH1 is a shooting class for athletes who can hold their own rifle or pistol, such as those with leg or lower-body impairments.
Archery produced a world record on opening day as Sheetal Devi, an armless archer, matched the world record in the women’s compound qualifying round, then joined her teammate Toman Kumar to set a new world record in the mixed team event.
On Wednesday, she added a silver to the medal tally teaming up with Payal Nag in the women’s compound doubles, where they lost the final to China.
Singapore has three bronze medals so far. The first came from veteran swimmer Toh Wei Soong, whose bronze was his eighth Asian Para Games medal.
Our shooters have also been in action. Indian-Singaporean Surya Mohar Jha made his debut at just 18 and placed 18th out of 25 in the 10m air rifle prone event.
His teammate Daniel Chan had a birthday to remember as he turned 39 and set a new Singapore record in the 10m air pistol SH1 qualification and finished sixth in the final. He broke his own record in Hangzhou.
With two days of competition left, India has a chance of reaching its 100-medal target. Singapore’s young shooters will hope to turn their strong showings into podium finishes before the Games close on Saturday.
