India’s ace para shuttler Parul Parmar notched up a victory of 21-9, 21-5 over Wandee Kamtam of Thailand to win the gold medal in the Women’s Singles SL3 event at the Para Asian Games 2018. Athletes in this class have impairment in one or both lower limbs and poor walking/running balance but they play in standing positions. “I work as a coach in the Gujarat’s Sports Authority of India. My target is Paralympics. I will play in the World Championships next,” Parmar said after winning the gold.
Two gold medals in Chess came through the hands of K Jennitha Anto and Kishan Gangolli. Anto clinched the gold in women’s individual rapid P1 chess event after beating Manurung Roslinda of Indonesia 1-0 in the final round, while Kishan Gangolli got the better of Majid Bagheri in the men’s individual rapid VI – B2/B3 event to claim the top spot. Rapid P1event is for physically impaired athletes while rapid VI – B2/B3 event features partially blind competitors.
Later in the day, para athletes clinched two more gold medals for India. In Men’s Javelin Throw F55 event Neeraj Yadav clinched the gold while Amit Balyan won silver. In Men’s Club Throw F51, it was a first and second finish for the Indians as Amit Kumar Saroha bagged gold while Dharambir clinched silver.
In swimming, Swapnil Patil clinched a silver in the Men’s 100m Backstroke in the S10 category. The S10 classification covers physical impairment. Patil earlier won a bronze in the men’s 400m Freestyle.
There were four silver medals that came in Chess for India. Mohammad Salih PK and Soundarya Kumar Pradhan won it in Men’s Team Rapid VI – B1, the team of Kishan Gangoli, Kanchanbhai Makwana & Soundarya Kumar Pradhan won in Men’s Team Rapid VI – B2/B3, the trio of Mrunali Prakash Pande, Punaram Gawar &Megha Chakraborty won in Women’s Team Rapid VI – B2/B3 and the team of Jennitha Anto and Kanishri Raju won silver in Women’s Team Rapid P1.
India also won a bronze medal in the men’s C4 Individual Pursuit 4000m Cycling event with Gurlal Singh claiming the third position. This event is for athletes with a below the knee amputation and a prosthesis on one leg.
Rio Paralympics silver-medallist Deepa Malik bagged her second medal when she clinched the bronze in the Women’s F51/52/53s Discus Throw. Deepa produced her best effort in her fourth attempt, a 9.67 metre throw to claim the third spot. Deepa earlier won a bronze in Women’s F 53/54 Javelin Throw event.
In the Women’s Discus Throw F11 category, Nidhi Mishra claimed a bronze covering a personal distance of 21.82m. The F11 classification covers visual impairment.
Two bronze medal came in Badminton as Nagar Krishna finished third in Men’s Singles SS6 while Mansi Joshi claimed it in Women’s Singles SL3 category.
