India Shine at Asian Para Games: Mona, Nishad Lead 11-Medal Haul as Country Wins Four Golds on October 19

Asian Para Games: India Win Four Golds as Mona Agarwal, Nishad Kumar Lead 11-Medal Haul

India made a strong statement at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya on Monday, October 19, with four gold medals highlighting an impressive 11-medal haul. Mona Agarwal and Nishad Kumar spearheaded the country’s campaign, while para-archer Sheetal Devi delivered a record-breaking performance to further boost India’s medal hopes.

Sheetal matched the world record in the women’s compound qualification round before partnering Rakesh Kumar to set a new world record in the mixed team event. Her performances underlined India’s growing dominance in para-archery.

Indian athletes also secured multiple one-two finishes across disciplines, demonstrating the country’s depth and raising expectations of further podium sweeps as the competition progresses.

India finished the day fourth in the medal standings. China established an early lead, while India remained within reach of Japan, which had eight gold medals, and Uzbekistan, with six golds.

MONA AGARWAL BEATS AVANI LEKHARA IN THRILLING SHOOTING FINAL

Mona Agarwal produced a remarkable comeback in the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 final, moving up from sixth place to defeat defending champion Avani Lekhara in a closely contested all-Indian showdown.

Mona secured gold with 250.0 points, setting an Asian Para Games record. Avani, a two-time Paralympic champion, finished just 0.4 points behind with 249.6 to claim silver.

The victory marked another major milestone for Mona, who won bronze at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. She has also strengthened India’s qualification prospects for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Last month, she secured a quota place at the WSPS World Championships in Changwon, South Korea, where she won silver.

Mona had displayed her form in the qualification round, topping the eight-athlete field with 629.1 points to establish another Asian Para Games record. Avani finished second with 626.4 points, setting up a final that went down to the wire.

NISHAD, SOUMYA AND RINKU POWER INDIA’S ATHLETICS CAMPAIGN

Para-athletics proved highly productive for India, with Nishad Kumar, Soumya and Rinku winning gold in their respective events.

Nishad marked his international debut in long jump with a gold-medal performance in the men’s event. The two-time Paralympic silver-medallist registered a jump of 7.11 metres to finish first despite competing internationally in the discipline for the first time.

Soumya won the women’s 1500m T12/T13 event in a personal-best time of 5:12.39. India’s Venkatesh Radha secured silver in 5:30.90, completing a one-two finish for the country.

India also earned bronze in the women’s T11 event through Ravanni Valasanaini. She moved into the medal positions after the original third-place finisher, Rakshitha Raju, was disqualified for a technical violation of competition regulations concerning clothing, footwear and bibs.

The men’s F46 javelin final witnessed another Indian one-two finish. Rinku clinched gold with a final-attempt throw of 65.11 metres, narrowly surpassing Ajeet Singh’s 65.02 metres. Both athletes recorded season-best performances, with Ajeet taking silver.

KOKILA AND KAPIL ADD TWO MEDALS IN JUDO

India’s visually impaired judokas contributed two more medals, as Kokila won silver and Kapil Parmar secured bronze.

Kokila finished runner-up in the women’s J2 -52kg category after losing the final to Kyrgyzstan’s Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy. Having won bronze at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Para Games, Kokila improved her result this time to claim silver.

Kapil, who had won silver at the previous edition, finished third in the men’s J1 -70kg category. He suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat against Indonesia’s Junaedi in the semifinal but recovered strongly in the bronze-medal playoff, defeating another Indonesian judoka, Ahnaf Rafli Shidqi, by the same scoreline.

RAVI KARTHIK WINS SILVER IN SWIMMING

Ravi Karthik Budigina added to India’s medal count with silver in the men’s 100m freestyle S13 event.

Ravi clocked 56.68 seconds to finish on the podium in the category for swimmers with relatively minor visual impairments.

BHAVINA, PRACHI AND SONALBEN ADVANCE IN TABLE TENNIS

India’s para-table tennis contingent strengthened its medal prospects as Paralympic silver-medallist Bhavina Patel, Prachi Pandey and Sonalben advanced to the semifinals in their respective women’s singles categories.

Prachi achieved a significant milestone by securing India’s first-ever Para Asian Games medal in the women’s Class 6 category. She defeated Thailand’s Kanokporn Phathumchai 11-5, 11-4, 11-13, 12-10 in her second group match to book a place in the last four.

Sonalben continued India’s progress in Class 3, defeating Thailand’s Dararat Asayut 3-1 in the quarterfinal. She won the match 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 to secure her semifinal berth.

Bhavina, a former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist, also advanced after recovering from a slow start against China’s Zhang Miao in the Class 4-5 quarterfinal. After losing the opening game 8-11, she dominated the remainder of the contest to win 11-6, 11-1, 11-6.

NITESH KUMAR AND THULASIMATHI GUARANTEE BADMINTON MEDAL

India’s success continued in para-badminton, where Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan secured at least a bronze medal in the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 event by reaching the semifinals.

The Indian pair topped Group B unbeaten. They received a walkover against China’s Yang Jianyuan and Yang Qiuxia in their opening match before defeating Chinese opponents Chen Pengfei and Huang Zixuan 21-4, 21-18 in just 23 minutes at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.

Their semifinal qualification guaranteed India a place on the podium in the event.

Paris Paralympics champion Nitesh also began his men’s singles SL3 campaign with a comfortable 21-13, 21-15 victory over South Korea’s Joo Dongjae in Group A.

Ruthick Ragupathi added another win for India, defeating Thailand’s Somsiri Pricha 21-12, 21-12 in the men’s singles SU5 Group C match.

With four gold medals and a total of 11 medals on October 19, India enjoyed a productive day in Nagoya. Strong performances across shooting, athletics, judo, swimming, table tennis and badminton have strengthened the country’s campaign as it looks to climb higher in the overall standings.