Indian Athletes Shine at Paralympics with Record-Breaking Performances

India's Paralympic athletes have delivered historic performances in Tokyo, led by Sachin Sarjerao Khilari who broke his own Asian record in shot put to win silver. The nation's tally of 21 medals and strong showings in high jump, javelin, and table tennis underscore a landmark participation.

World champion shot-putter Sachin Sarjerao Khilari smashed the Asian record en route to a silver on Wednesday as India's track-and-field athletes continued to surpass expectations in what is turning out to be the country's best-ever performance at the Paralympics.

The 34-year-old Khilari pulled off a 16.32m throw in his second attempt of the F46 category final to better his own Asian record of 16.30m, which he set in May while winning gold at the World Para-Athletics Championships in Japan.

His silver on Wednesday was medal number 21 for the nation, which is currently placed 19th in the overall standings with three gold, eight silver, and 10 bronze medals.

Greg Stewart of Canada defended his Tokyo Paralympics gold with a throw of 16.38m, while Luka Bakovic of Croatia took the bronze with 16.27m.

Khilari's silver was also India's 11th medal from track-and-field, long surpassing Tokyo's haul of one gold, five silver, and two bronze medals.

Late on Tuesday night, Indians won silver and bronze in both men's high jump T63 and javelin throw F46 after Deepthi Jeevanji's bronze in the women's 400m T20 category highlighted India's best day at the Games so far.

Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu won silver and bronze respectively in the men's high jump T63, while Ajeet Singh and Sundar Singh Gurjar took the second and third spots in the javelin throw F46 final.

F46 classification is for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power, or impaired passive range of movement in arms, with athletes competing in a standing position.

Hailing from a farming family in Karagani village in Maharashtra's Sangli district, Khilari met with an accident during his childhood. The injury resulted in gangrene of the skin on his elbow and muscle atrophy. Even after several surgeries, his arm never recovered. He also lost his mother when he was young.

'I had wanted to win the gold medal, but it did not happen. It's my best distance but I am not satisfied. I feel I could have done better. It was not my day,' Khilari said about his performance on Wednesday.

Harvinder enters quarters in archery: Tokyo Games bronze-winner Harvinder Singh secured back-to-back wins to reach the quarterfinals in his bid for a second successive Paralympics medal in archery.

Harvinder knocked out Tseng Lung-Hui of Chinese Taipei 7-3 before overcoming an opening set deficit to edge out Setiawan Setiawan of Indonesia 6-2 in the last-16 round.

Tokyo silver-medallist Bhavina ousted: India's challenge in the women's singles table tennis competition ended after Tokyo edition's silver-medallist Bhavinaben Patel lost to China's Ying Zhou 3-1 in the class 4 quarterfinal.

Bhavinaben, who became India's first-ever medal winner in the sport with her silver in the Tokyo Paralympics, fought hard in the first two games and even won the third but eventually lost to her Chinese rival 12-14, 9-11, 11-8, 6-11.

Earlier, the other women's singles player in class 3, Sonalben Patel, lost to Croatia's Andela Muzinic Vincetic in the round of 16.

Bhavinaben was diagnosed with polio when she was one-year old. She competes in class 4, which is meant for wheelchair-bound athletes with functional arms and hands.

No medals in shooting: In Chateauroux, Indian shooters Nihal Singh and Rudransh Khandelwal failed to make the final of the mixed 50m pistol (SH1) competition.

Nihal, the 2023 world championship bronze medallist, finished 19th. He had an aggregate score of 522 across six series.

Competing in his maiden Paralympics, 17-year-old Rudransh, who lost his left leg in a freak mishap when he was just eight-years-old, scored 517 to sign off in the 22nd spot in the qualification round.

(With inputs from agencies.)