Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar won silver and bronze medals respectively in the men’s high jump T63 event and shooter Simharaj Adana won the bronze medal in the men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 event, taking India to an unprecedented 10 medals at the Paralympics on Tuesday. Did it
India has so far won two gold, five silver and three bronze medals in the ongoing Games.
Mariyappan covered a distance of 1.86m while American gold winner Sam Gravey, who finished behind the Indian in the T42 category in Rio, managed to rise above 1.88m in his third attempt. Sharad won the bronze medal with an effort of 1.83.
Varun in seventh place
Varun Singh Bhati, the third Indian in the field and 2016 Rio Paralympic bronze winner, finished seventh out of nine competitors after failing to cross the 1.77m mark.
The Indians finished in the top three for most of the competition and Mariyappan was also in contention for a gold.
The T63/F63 classification is for athletes whose above-knee or above-knee limb deficiency competes with a prosthesis where the minimum impairment criteria for lower limb deficiency are met.
The T42 classification is for athletes with a leg crunch, leg length differences, impaired muscle strength, or impaired passive range of motion in the legs. Athletes compete in a standing position.
Athletics has been the country’s happy hunting ground so far with one gold, four silver and two bronze and a few more are expected before the Games conclude on Sunday.
Earlier, Sinhraj Adana finished third after qualifying for the eight-man final as the sixth best shooter in the P1 Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 event with a total of 216.8 points.
Manish flops in final
However, Manish Narwal, who topped the qualification with 575 points, finished seventh in the final. The second Indian in the event, Deepender Singh, finished 10th.
Rounding out the top three, Adana was out of contention with her poor 19th shot but managed to bounce back in her 20th attempt as China’s Xiaolong Lu got an 8.6.
China won gold and silver in the final with defending champions Chao Yang (237.9 – Paralympic record) and Huang Jing (237.5) respectively.
In the women’s section, Rubina Francis finished seventh in the final.
Since pistols are only held with one hand, SH1 category athletes have an impairment affecting an arm and/or leg, for example as a result of amputation or spinal cord injuries. P1 is a classification for the men’s 10 air pistol competition. Shooters compete in either a sitting or standing position as defined in the rules.
The Indian challenge in compound men’s open archery came to an end after Rakesh Kumar lost 143-145 to former world champion Xinliang Ai of China in the quarterfinals. Rakesh had beaten Slovakian best Marian Marek 111-108 in the previous round.
Indian women’s table tennis team Bhawna Patel and Sonal Patel were defeated by China 2-0 in the quarter-finals of Class 4-5.
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