India Reach 88 Medals on Day 4 of the Asian Para Games as Gavit and Shailesh Strike Gold

India ended Day 4 of the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Thursday, October 22, with 88 medals: 21 gold, 26 silver and 41 bronze. Para athletics did most of the work again, with a high jump podium sweep, two 400 metre titles and an Asian record in the long jump.

Gavit defends his 400 metre title

Dilip Mahadu Gavit won the men's 400m T47 in 48.27 seconds, defending the title he took at Hangzhou in 2023. It was his second gold of these Games, a day after he won the 100m T47 on Wednesday.

The silver medal changed hands after the race. Bhavikkumar Bharwad crossed the line second in 49.31 seconds but was disqualified for a second lane infringement. Japan's Ishida Kakeru, who ran 49.58, was upgraded to silver, and Uzbekistan's Marufjon Murodulloev took bronze in 50.03.

Shailesh leads a high jump sweep

Shailesh Kumar cleared a Games record 1.89 metres to win the men's high jump T63, leading India's third podium sweep of these Games. Varun Bhati took silver with a season best 1.84 metres, and Rahul took bronze with a personal best 1.81 metres. Shailesh had already won a long jump bronze on Wednesday.

Anjanaben Bumbadiya won the women's 400m T47 in 59.97 seconds, with Jayanti Behera second in 1:00.65 to give India the top two places. Thailand's Sasirawan Inthachot took bronze in 1:02.58. Bumbadiya said it was only her second international competition and that she had simply wanted to give her best.

Solairaj Dharmaraj closed the athletics day with gold in the men's long jump T44/T62/T64, setting an Asian record of 7.15 metres and defending his title.

Medals in the pool and on the badminton court

Tejalben Damor took silver in the women's 400m T12 in 57.60 seconds, behind Iran's Hajar Safarzadeh, who set a Games record of 56.43. It was Damor's second medal of the Games after a bronze in the 200m T12. Ravanni Valasanaini took bronze in the women's 400m T11, holding third place off the final bend and beating China's Huang Zhenli by 0.07 seconds.

In the pool, Kapil Kumar won silver in the men's 400m freestyle S10 in 4:38.44, behind Japan's Akito Minai in 4:27.44. Ravi Karthik Budigina added a bronze in the men's 50m freestyle S13 in 25.89 seconds to the two silvers he had already won, Tejas Nandkumar took bronze in the men's 100m backstroke S7 in 1:18.58, and Swastik Patil took bronze in the men's breaststroke SB9 in 1:13.77.

Para badminton added two bronzes. Manisha Ramadass lost her women's singles SU5 semifinal to fellow Indian Thulasimathi Murugesan in three games, and Surya Kant Yadav and Naveen Sivakumar lost their doubles semifinal to Indonesia's Suryo Nugroho and Muh Al Imran, also in three games.

The tally has jumped from 62 medals at the end of Day 3 to 88 at the end of Day 4, with the athletics track supplying the bulk of them.