India set Asian Para Games record with 114 medals and nine golds on final day

Record haul caps golden final day in Aichi-Nagoya

India’s para-athletes ended their campaign at the Asian Para Games with the nation’s best-ever medal haul, finishing with 114 medals — 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze — after a record-breaking nine-gold flourish on the final day in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday.

The 114-medal tally surpasses India’s previous best of 108 medals, including 27 gold, from Hangzhou in 2023. The achievement came with a contingent of 168 athletes, nearly half the size of the Hangzhou squad. India remained fourth in the standings at the close of competition, with a few events still scheduled for Saturday.

Athletics drives the surge

Athletics remained India’s biggest contributor with 65 medals, 12 more than at the previous edition. Friday’s highlights included an Indian 1-2-3 in the men’s javelin throw F42-44/61-64 combined event.

Reigning Paralympic and world champion Sumit Antil defended his title with 72.46m, Mahendra Gurjar took silver with 59.03m and Sandip Sanjay Sargar claimed bronze with 64.48m, with Gurjar finishing ahead of Sargar on Raza points.

Pranav Soorma defended his men’s club throw F51 title with a Games-record 32.87m, while Dharambir secured bronze with 27.71m.

Sandeep produced a world-record 52.28 seconds to win the men’s 400m T64 gold, with Ajay Kumar adding bronze in a Games-record 53.61 seconds. Haney threw a world-record 60.49m to win the men’s javelin F37/38 title.

Silver medals on the day went to Nimisha Chakkungalparambil in the women’s long jump T47 and Parmod Bijarnia in the men’s 1500m T46, where he clocked 4:09.65.

Badminton delivers three golds

India’s shuttlers won three gold medals. Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar beat compatriot and Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist Pramod Bhagat 21-18, 21-16 in the men’s singles SL3 final. He later added a silver in mixed doubles SL3-SU5 with Thulasimathi Murugesan.

Games debutant Naveen Sivakumar won the men’s singles SL4 title, defeating Indonesia’s Fredy Setiawan 21-9, 21-17.

Thulasimathi Murugesan combined with Manasi Joshi to win gold in women’s doubles SL3-SU5, beating China’s Yang Qiuxia and Xiao Zuxian 21-16, 21-13. Thulasimathi also took silver in women’s singles SU5 after losing to Yang.

Shooting and archery strike gold

Shooter Mona Agarwal shattered the world record to win the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1 title with 357.5 points. The 38-year-old had earlier won the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 gold with a Games-record 250.0 points, edging compatriot Avani Lekhara who took silver with 249.6. Agarwal also secured India’s first 2028 Paralympic quota earlier this year.

In archery, Paralympic champion Harvinder Singh teamed with debutant Vijay Sundi to win men’s recurve doubles gold, defeating China’s Yun Duo and Zhao Lixue 5-1. Bhawna Choudhary and Pooja Jatyan settled for silver in women’s recurve doubles after losing 0-6 to China’s Gao Zihan and Wang Xueqian.

Swimming exceeds expectations

India’s swimmers finished with 11 medals, including three silver. Himanshu Nandal completed a hat-trick of bronzes with third place in the men’s 100m freestyle S11 in 1:05.90. The 22-year-old, born blind due to optic nerve failure, had earlier won bronze in the men’s 400m freestyle and 100m breaststroke S11. Ravi Budigina ended with two silver and one bronze.

With nine golds on Friday and an overall record of 114 medals, India signed off from the Asian Para Games with its most successful continental performance to date, eclipsing the benchmark set in Hangzhou three years ago.