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On Day 4 of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, India secured one more medal with Nishad Kumar finishing second in the men’s high jump T47 category at the Stade de France in the French capital. With the seventh medal at the ongoing Games, India now stands at 27th place with three more medals confirmed by Indians.
In this article, we will go through all the big news that took place on Sunday, September 1 at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Shooting
Avani Lekhara, Sidhartha Babu miss out on mixed 10m air rifle final
Indian shooters Avani Lekhara finished 11th while Sidhartha Babu ended 28th and were unable to make the final of the mixed 10m air rifle prone (SH1) event at the Paralympic Games in Paris on Sunday. Coming off her historic gold medal in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event, Avani could not replicate that form despite a strong start in what is not her pet event, and ended the competition with a total score of 632.8. Sidhartha aggregated 628.3 across six series.
Badminton
Suhas Yathiraj, Nitesh Kumar keep India's hope for badminton gold in Paralympics
Suhas Yathiraj and Nitesh Kumar on Sunday inched closer to their maiden gold medal after progressing to the men's singles final in their respective categories at the Paris Paralympics. While Suhas, a silver medallist from Tokyo Games, is set to become the first Indian shuttler to secure back-to-back medals at the Paralympics after outplaying compatriot Sukant Kadam 21-17, 21-12 in SL4, Nitesh guaranteed a medal for himself in SL3 with a 21-16 21-12 victory over Japan's Daisuke Fujihara in another semifinal.
Table Tennis
Bhavina Patel advances to quarterfinals in women's singles Class 4 event; Sonalben bow out
India's Bhavina Patel, the silver medallist in the Tokyo edition, entered the quarterfinals of the women's singles class 4 table tennis event at the Paralympics with a 3-0 win over Mexico's Martha Verdin here on Sunday. Bhavina blanked Martha 11-3, 11-6, 11-7 in a round of 16 contest. The 37-year-old athlete from Gujarat will now face defending champion Ying Zhou of China in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Sonalben Patel bowed out in the RO16. losing to Andela Muzinic of Croatia 3-11, 12-10, 7-11, 5-11.
Athletics
Nishad Kumar wins silver in high jump T47 category
High jumper Nishad Kumar of T47 category clinched his second successive silver at the Paralympic Games with a season's best effort of 2.04m on Sunday. Nishad had also won a silver in Tokyo Paralympics three years ago. He had jumped 2.06m then in Tokyo. T47 is meant for competitors with a below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment. Nishad's silver was India's third medal from para-athletics and seventh for the country overall in Paris Paralympics.
Archery
Rakesh Kumar misses Paralympics archery bronze by a point
World number one Rakesh Kumar's stunning run in the Paralympics ended without a medal as he went down by one-point to defending champion, He Zihao of China in the bronze play-off of the men's compound open archery event on Sunday. The 39-year-old from Jammu, who is wheelchair-bound after suffering a spinal cord injury in 2009, had a slender one-point lead with six arrows to go. But Rakesh dropped two points in the penultimate end, as the Tokyo Paralympics champion Zihao seized the momentum, hitting six 10s in a row (with three arrows closer to the bulls-eye) to win 117-116.
Britain’s Jodie Grinham becomes first athlete to win a Paralympic medal while pregnant
British archer Jodie Grinham became the first ever athlete to win a Paralympic medal while pregnant when she took bronze in the women’s individual compound open on Saturday, organizers said. Grinham pipped teammate Phoebe Paterson Pine to the bronze medal after both Brits had narrowly lost their respective semifinals, while Turkey’s Öznur Cüre Girdi won the gold medal, defeating Iran’s Fatemeh Hemmati in the final.
Others
PM Modi congratulates India's medal winners at Paris Paralympics
India have got off to a great start in the ongoing Paris Paralympic Games 2024, winning one gold, one silver, and three bronze medals in first three days of the event. With that, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, took some time from his busy schedule to congratulate India’s medal winners Manish Narwal and Rubina Francis on a phone call.
