By Prarthana Mitra
A volley of medals was in store for India’s Asian Para Games contingent, fighting it out against all odds in Jakarta. On Friday, India continued its impressive performance with several gold medals in chess, one in club throw and javelin each and another one in badminton, among other events.
Discus Throw
Rio Paralympics medallist Deepa Malik bagged her second medal- a bronze in the women’s F51/52/53s discus throw event. Athletes participating in this category have full power and movements in their arms, but no power in their abdominal muscles and typically no sitting balance. They compete in seated positions.
On her fourth attempt with a 9.67-metre throw, she sealed her spot in the top three. Elnaz Darabian of Iran took home the gold and set a new Asian record with a throw of 10.71m, and Fatema Nedham of Bahrain won the silver with 9.87m. This makes it Deepa’s second bronze in Jakarta, having already won the former in women’s F 53/54 javelin throw event.
In the F11 category (for visually impaired athletes), Nidhi Mishra claimed another bronze covering a distance of 21.82m.
Javelin
Javelin thrower Neeraj Yadav struck gold in the mens F55 event, while Amit Bhalyan won silver in yet another 1-2 finish.
Club Throw
Paralympian Amit Saroha bagged a gold in club throw (F51). Dharambir made it a 1-2 for India by winning the silver.
Chess
K Jennitha Anto won gold in womens individual rapid P1 chess event, defeating Indonesian chess player Manurung Roslinda 1-0 in the final round. In the mens individual rapid VI – B2/B3 event (for visually impaired participants), Kishan Gangolli got the better of Majid Bagheri to claim the top spot.
Badminton
In para-badminton, Parul Parmar registered a resounding victory over Thai racket player Wandee Kamtam (21-9 21-5) to win gold in the womens singles SL3 event (for athletes with impairment in one or both lower limbs and poor walking/running balance who play in standing position).
Swimming
In swimming, Swapnil Patil clinched a silver in the mens 100m backstroke in the S10 category. Patil earlier won a bronze in the mens 400m freestyle.
With one day remaining, India’s cumulative medal tally at the Games comes to a whopping 63 medals; 13 of these are gold, 20 silver and 30 bronze.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius