Mona Agarwal leads Indian one-two in rifle as India bag 11 medals on Asian Para Games opening day

India opened their Asian Para Games campaign in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with 11 medals on Monday, 19 October. The tally of four gold, five silver and two bronze left the Indian team fourth in the overall standings at the close of the first full day of medal events.

The standout result came on the shooting range. Mona Agarwal, a bronze medallist at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, sat sixth early in the women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1 final but climbed steadily to finish on 250.0, a new Asian Para Games record. Her teammate Avani Lekhara settled for silver on 249.6, just 0.4 behind. Agarwal had also topped qualifying with 629.1, ahead of Lekhara’s 626.4. The Indian one-two brought the country a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.

Gold on the track and in the field

Nishad Kumar, a two-time Paralympic silver medallist, won the men’s T47 long jump with a best of 7.11m. It was his first international outing in the event. In the men’s F46 javelin, Rinku Hooda threw 65.11m to take gold, with Ajeet Singh finishing second.

On the track, Soumya clocked a personal best of 5:12.39 to win the women’s 1500m T12/13, and Radha Venkatesh made it another Indian one-two by taking silver in 5:30.90. Ravanni Valasanaini earned bronze in the women’s 1500m T11 after Rakshitha Raju, who had crossed the line third, was disqualified.

Judo and swimming medals

Judoka Kokila reached the final of the women’s J2 -52kg division and took silver after losing to Kyrgyzstan’s Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy. Kapil Parmar added a bronze in the men’s J1 -70kg category. In the pool, Ravi Karthik Budigina won silver in the men’s 100m freestyle S13.

Records for the archers

No archery medals were decided on 19 October, but the ranking rounds produced headline numbers. Sheetal Devi shot 704 to top the women’s compound individual ranking, equalling the world record. She then paired with Toman Kumar to lead the compound mixed team ranking with a world-record total of 1,402, which gives the duo top billing heading into the knockout stage.

More Asian Para Games medals in sight

India have chances for more podium finishes in the coming days. In para table tennis, Bhavina Patel (Class 4-5), Sonalben Patel (Class 3) and Prachi Pandey (Class 6) all won their matches to reach the semi-finals. In para badminton, Paris Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and Thulasimathi Murugesan went through to the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 semi-finals after an unbeaten group stage. The Games continue until Saturday, 24 October.

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