Picture Credit: Twitter
It was a magical Monday for Indians at the Tokyo Paralympics. India won a total of five medals on the day including two historic gold medals. The Indian contingent kept on winning medals one after another in respective events. The day started well and also ended on a high for the Indians as Avani Lekhara and Sumit Antil won the gold medals in 10m Air Rifle SH1 and Men's Javelin throw F64 final respectively.
Devendra Jhajharia, India's best and most experienced campaigner in terms of achievements, continued his impressive run and clinched his third Paralympic medal. He won the Silver medal in Men's Javelin throw F46 event. Meanwhile, Sundar Singh Gurjar won the bronze in the same event. Discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya won another Silver medal for India as he finished in the second position in the Discus throw F56 event.
Let us look at the performances of these Paralympians on Day 6 separately:
Shooting-R2- Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing Final- Avani Lekhara (Sports Class SH1)
Avani Lekhara qualified for the final with a total of 612.7 in the qualification round. China's Cuiping Zhang finished at first position with 626. In the final, Lekhara won the gold medal with a score of 249.6 and also equalled the world record in the process. She became the first woman to win a Paralympic gold medal.
Men's Javelin Final (F46)
World record holder Devendra Jhajharia threw 60.28 m in his first attempt. He improved marginally to record a score of 60.62 m in his second attempt. The throw that helped him win the silver medal came in his third attempt where he threw 64.38 m.
Sundar Singh Gurjar started with a 62.26 m throw and then fell to 60.62m in his second attempt. However, he finished in the third position and won the bronze medal with a throw of 64.01m.
Ajeet Yadav failed to leave an impact and finished in eighth position. Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyan broke Devendra Jhajharia's world record of 63.97m as he threw a monstrous distance of 67.79m.
Men's Discus Throw Final (Class F56)
The 24-year-old Yogesh Kathuniya made his debut at the Paralympic games memorable with a silver medal. He registered throws of 42.84m, 43.55m, and 44.38m in his second, fifth, and sixth throws, respectively. He finished in first place with a season best of 44.38m. Brazil's Claudiney Batista won gold with a throw of 45.59m while Cuba's Leonardo Diaz Aldana bagged bronze with 43.36m throw.
Men's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1
Swaroop Mahavir failed to win a medal as he finished fourth in Men's 10m Air Rifle SH1. He was placed second after 10 shots. After his 15th and 16th shots he cruised to the top spot with scores of 10.7 and 10.5.
Men's Javelin Throw Final (Class F64)
Sumit Antil started things on a high as he created a World Record in his very first throw. He threw a distance of 66.95m He went on to make it even better with record throws of 68.08m and 68.55m in his second and fifth attempt and won the gold medal.
Sandeep Chaudhary, after starting well with a throw of 61.13m, failed to capitalise and finished fourth.