NEW DELHI, October 24 (Aalimi Nation) – India signed off from the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Saturday with its best-ever medal haul at the continental event: 114 medals, made up of 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze. The Asian Para Games record beats the 108 medals, including 27 gold, that India won in Hangzhou, China, in 2023.

A record on the final day

Nine gold medals on the last day of competition, the best single-day haul of the Games, helped India past its previous mark. India finished fourth on the medal table. The squad had 168 members, nearly half the size of the contingent sent to Hangzhou.

Para-athletics again supplied the bulk of the medals, with 65 in all, 12 more than in 2023. For the first time, though, it was not the leading source of India's gold medals. Swimming added 11 medals, while para-badminton, archery and shooting all won golds on the closing day.

Winners and records

Shooter Mona Agarwal won the women's 10-metre air rifle standing SH1 gold with a Games record of 250.0, then took the women's 50-metre rifle three positions SH1 title with a world record of 357.5. Avani Lekhara won silver in the air rifle event. Agarwal had earlier secured India's first quota place for the 2028 Paralympics.

High jumper Nishad Kumar won gold in the men's high jump and long jump in the T47 category. Both Kumar and Agarwal were named India's flag-bearers for the closing ceremony.

On the track and field, Sandeep won the men's 400 metres T64 in a world-record 52.28 seconds, with Ajay Kumar taking bronze in a Games record of 53.61. Haney won the men's javelin F37/38 with a world record of 60.49 metres. Sumit Antil, the reigning Paralympic and world champion, won the men's javelin F42-44/61-64 with 72.46 metres, in an event where India took all three podium places. Pranav Soorma threw a Games-record 32.87 metres to win the F51 club throw.

In para-badminton, Nitesh Kumar won the men's singles SL3 and Naveen Sivakumar the men's singles SL4. Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manasi Joshi won the women's doubles SL3-SU5. In archery, Harvinder Singh and Vijay Sundi won the men's doubles recurve gold.

Swimming and other highlights

Himanshu Nandal, who is blind, won three bronze medals in the S11 freestyle and breaststroke events, including the 100 metres freestyle in 1:05.90. Ravi Budigina collected two silver medals and a bronze.

The 2023 Games in Hangzhou were the previous high, and the Aichi-Nagoya result represents six more medals and three more golds from a considerably smaller squad.

The closing ceremony in Aichi-Nagoya was scheduled for the afternoon in India. The results will also feed into the build-up to the 2028 Paralympics, for which Agarwal has already secured a quota place. Official statements from the sports ministry and the Paralympic Committee of India had not been reported at the time of writing.