SportsPara Games
Sachin Khilari's Games record leads India's shot put clean sweep in Nagoya
Indian throwers took all three medals in the men's F46 shot put at the Asian Para Games on Wednesday, while Ayush Verma won F53 gold and Bhagyashri Jadhav and Ravi Rongali added silver and bronze.
Key points
- Sachin Khilari won F46 shot put gold with a Games record of 15.79m, ahead of Mohd Yasser and Praveen.
- Ayush Verma took gold in the F53 shot put with a throw of 8.16m.
- Bhagyashri Jadhav won silver with a personal best of 8.19m and Ravi Rongali took F40 bronze.
India’s shot putters dominated the throws at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games on Wednesday, and Sachin Khilari led the way.
The two-time world champion won the men’s F46 shot put with a Games record throw of 15.79 metres, and two team-mates followed him onto the podium. Mohd Yasser took silver with 15.06m and Praveen bronze with 13.83m, giving India a clean sweep of the event.
For Khilari, the gold confirmed his status as the leading thrower in Asia in his class. He won silver at the Paris Paralympics and has twice been world champion, and on Wednesday he was in a different league from the rest of the field, finishing more than 70 centimetres clear of Yasser.
Gold for Ayush Verma, a personal best for Jadhav
There was a second Indian gold in the circle. Ayush Verma won the men’s F53 shot put with a throw of 8.16m.
Bhagyashri Jadhav added silver in the women’s F34 shot put with a personal best of 8.19m. She could not match China’s Lijuan Zou, who set a Games record of 9.07m to win gold, but the throw was the best of Jadhav’s career.
Rongali settles for bronze
Ravi Rongali, who won silver in the men’s F40 shot put at Hangzhou three years ago, had to settle for bronze this time. He opened with 9.21m and produced his best throw of 10.02m in the second round, which was already better than the 9.92m that earned him silver in 2023. He then threw 9.95m and 9.63m and fouled his third and sixth attempts.
Iraq’s Gharrah Tnaiash, who beat him in Hangzhou too, won gold with 10.78m. Malaysia’s Gan-Erdene Gansukh took silver with a personal best of 10.30m.
Where India stand
Wednesday’s medals in the throws add to a strong first half of the Games for India. Earlier in the week Deepthi Jeevanji set a Games record to win the 400m, Mona Agarwal won shooting gold and Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar set a world record in the mixed team archery.
The Games in Nagoya run until Saturday, 24 October. India sent 168 athletes and have set themselves a target of 100 medals.