After a spectacular start at the Asian Para Games in Japan’s Nagoya, having picked up 11 medals on day one, including four gold across 11 sports categories following assured performances by established names like wheelchair-bound shooter Mona Agarwal and long jumper Nishad Kumar, India is determined to continue its medal rush on the second day of Asia’s largest para sporting event.

On day 2, India’s Deepthi Jeevanji won gold in the women’s 400 T20, while Pradeep Kumar bagged silver in the men’s javelin F53/F54. Apart from this, India has won bronze medals across other sports, including javelin, men’s shot put F11 and para table tennis

Top medal contenders today

India’s top medal contenders on Tuesday are Sheetal Devi in archery, Pramod Bhagat in para badminton and archers like Toman Kumar, Payal Nag, Harvinder Singh and Shyam Sunder Swami, who have reached the elimination rounds and have good chances of clinching a gold in individual and team events.

Sheetal set a new world record (149) in the pre-quarters, won her semi-final, and will be pitted in the finals against Singapore’s Nur Syahidah Alim.

Meanwhile, Bhagat is already guaranteed a medal after reaching the mixed doubles (SL3-SU5) semi-finals with Manisha Ramdass.

Here is Tuesday’s medal tally so far:

Gold: Deepthi Jeevanji in women’s 400m T20

Jeevanji clinched the gold medal in the Asian Para Games’ women’s 400m T20 event after clocking a Games record time of 56.36sec on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old from Telangana is a two-time Para World Championships medallist, having won the gold in 2024. She is also a Paralympic bronze winner in the same event.

Silver: Pradeep Kumar in men’s javelin throw F53/54

India’s Pradeep Kumar claimed his second successive silver medal in the men’s javelin throw F53/54 event on Tuesday. Pradeep (F54) produced a personal best throw of 27.45m to finish second.

Bronze: 4 medals for Indian paddlers

India’s Ayush Verma fetched a bronze in the men’s javelin throw F53/54. Ayush (F53) ensured a double podium for India by clinching the bronze after logging Raza points despite a comparatively shorter throw of 17.88m.

The 35-year-old finished ahead of Thailand’s Sahar-dam Yaena (F54), who threw 23.31m, owing to the higher degree of his disability that fetched him more Raza points.

Ravi Baby Sahana and Prachi Pandey scripted history by becoming India’s first para table tennis players to make the podium in the standing category at the Asian Para Games, as the country secured four bronze medals on Tuesday.

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Paralympics medallist Bhavina Patel, Sonalben Patel, Prachi and Sahana all went down to accomplished Paralympic medallists in their respective women’s singles semifinals.

The haul also took India past its medal tally from the previous edition, where it had won two bronze medals in para table tennis.

Sahana and Prachi’s medals were particularly significant as they became the first Indians to win medals in the standing category at the Asian Para Games.

Tamil Nadu’s Sahana went down 8-11, 2-11, 4-11 to five-time Paralympic gold medallist Mao Jingdian of China in the Class 9 semifinal.

Class 9 in para table tennis is a standing sports class for athletes with mild physical impairments affecting their legs or playing arm, or severe impairments of their non-playing arm.

Prachi, who has a neuro-degenerative disease, went down 9-11, 2-11, 8-11 to reigning Paralympic champion Najlah Al-Dayyeni of Iraq in the Class 6 semifinal.

Class 6 is a standing category for athletes with severe impairments in both arms and legs.

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Bhavina, a former Paralympic silver-medallist, was beaten 7-11, 5-11, 7-11 by China’s eight-time Paralympic champion Zhang Bian in the Class 4-5 semifinal to claim her second successive bronze at the Asian Para Games.

The 39-year-old from Gujarat had won a silver at the 2018 edition and is also a former Commonwealth Games gold-winner.

Class 4-5 classification is for athletes who have full upper body control but are on a wheelchair due to leg or lower-limb impairments.

Sonalben, who won a doubles silver at the 2018 Jakarta Games, lost 7-11, 5-11, 6-11 to defending champion and three-time Paralympic medallist Jiyu Yoon of South Korea in the Class 3 semifinal.

Class 3 is a wheelchair category for athletes with poor sitting balance and limited trunk control, but normal or near-normal arm and hand function.

Praveen Kumar in shot put F11

Praveen Kumar came up with a personal-best throw to clinch the bronze medal in the men’s shot put F11 event of the Asian Para Games.

The 19-year-old hurled the iron ball to a distance of 13.86 metres to finish third on the podium in a field of six athletes.

Amirhossein Alipour of Iran set an Asian record with a throw of 14.99 metres to take the gold medal, while his compatriot Mahdi Olad claimed the silver with a throw of 13.93 metres. The F11 category in shot put is for athletes with complete or near-complete visual impairment.

Medal rush on Day 1

On day 1 of the games, India collected four gold, five silver and two bronze — to be fourth in the overall standings

The medal rush began quite early in the day with Mona Agarwal staging a stirring comeback in the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1) final to beat compatriot Avani Lekhara for the gold.

Mona, a bronze-medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, climbed from sixth place to set an Asian Para Games record of 250.0, edging two-time Paralympic champion Avani by a mere 0.4 points.

The 24-year-old Avani, who entered as the defending champion, settled for the silver with 249.6.

Her medal also secured India a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, with Mona having already earned one at the World Shooting Para Sport (WSPS) World Championships in Changwon, South Korea last month where she won a silver.

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The evening belonged to the para-athletics competitors with two-time Paralympic silver-winner Nishad Kumar, middle-distance runner Soumya, and javelin thrower Rinku finishing on top in their respective competitions.

For Nishad, it was a very special performance as he was competing in an international long jump event for the first time in his career. Nishad, whose right arm was severed by a grass-cutting machine in an accident when he was a mere six, leapt 7.11m to claim the top spot.

In the women’s 1500m T12/T13 event, the visually impaired Soumya clocked a personal best of 5:12.39sec to win the gold ahead of compatriot Venkatesh Radha (5:30.90sec).

In the most severe category of T11 for the visually impaired, India’s Ravanni Valasanaini ended with a bronze after the original third-place finisher Rakshitha Raju was disqualified for a technical violation that covers non-compliance in relation to clothing, shoes, and bibs.

In the F46 men’s javelin throw, India dominated a three-man field, with Rinku and Ajeet Singh bagging the gold and silver with efforts of 65.11m and 65.02m, respectively. It was a season’s best throw for both Indians.

(With inputs from agencies)