Nagoya: India’s Sandeep and Haney clinched gold medals with world-record performances in the men’s 400m T64 and men’s javelin throw F37/38 events, respectively, at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya on Friday.
Sandeep clocked 52.28 seconds to set a world record and win the men’s 400m T64 final at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. He finished 0.85 seconds ahead of Saudi Arabia’s Nour Alsana, who secured silver with a season’s best of 53.13 seconds. India’s Ajay Kumar claimed bronze in 53.61 seconds, setting a Games record, while China’s Huang Ruihua finished fourth with a personal best of 54.39 seconds.
In the men’s javelin throw F37/38 final at the same venue, Haney produced a world-record effort of 60.49 meters to secure gold, earning 1,116 Raza points. Iran’s Hormoz Seidikazpounji won silver with a personal best of 50.68 meters, scoring 1,009 points, while China’s Yu Chengjie took bronze with an Asian-record throw of 53.66 meters, earning 943 points.
With these victories, India’s overall medal tally at this edition of the sporting event reached 100.
In the javelin throw, athletes from the F37 and F38 classifications compete together, with the final standings determined by Raza points. This explains why Seidikazpounji, despite recording a shorter throw than Yu, finished ahead of the Chinese athlete.
Sandeep and Alsana are classified under T44 in the men’s 400m, while Kumar competes in the T64 category. Both T44 and T64 are lower-limb impairment classifications, and athletes from the two categories often compete together.
Earlier in the day, India’s Nimisha Chakkungalparambil and Parmod Bijarnia won silver medals in the women’s long jump T47 and men’s 1500m T46 events, respectively.
Nimisha secured silver with a best jump of 5.37 meters. Sri Lanka’s Dhananjana Wickramasinghe won gold with a Games-record leap of 5.52 meters, finishing 15 centimeters ahead of the Indian. China’s Chen Jin claimed bronze with an effort of 5.17 meters.
In the men’s 1500m T46 final, Parmod took silver after clocking 4:09.65 at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. Sri Lanka’s Puwakpitikande P. Wahumpurage won gold in a Games-record time of 4:03.25, finishing 6.40 seconds ahead of the Indian. Parmod maintained his advantage over the rest of the field to secure second place.
The Philippines’ King James Reyes claimed bronze with a personal-best time of 4:13.81, finishing 10.56 seconds behind the winner.
The T47 classification is for athletes with a unilateral upper-limb impairment affecting one arm. This includes below-elbow or wrist amputations, limb deficiencies, or impairments in muscle power or passive range of motion in an arm. The T46 classification applies to standing athletes with upper-limb impairments, such as an above- or below-elbow amputation of one arm or a similar severe functional impairment affecting the shoulder or elbow.
Meanwhile, India’s Praveen Sharma finished fourth in the men’s discus throw F11 final with a best effort of 30.64 meters. Iran swept all three medals in the event, winning gold, silver and bronze.
Amisha Rawat also finished fourth for India in the women’s shot put F46 final, recording a best effort of 11.16 meters. (PTI)