Three Records in One Day: Deepthi, Soorma and Simran Lead India's Para Games Surge

India turned Tuesday into a record day at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, winning three gold medals in three record performances. Deepthi Jeevanji defended her women's 400m T20 title in a Games record, Pranav Soorma set an Asian record to lead an Indian one-two in the discus, and Simran Sharma won the women's 200m T12 in a Games record with her guide Shivam.

Deepthi defends her title in record time

Deepthi Jeevanji, 23, won the women's 400m T20 in 56.36 seconds, a new Games record. She finished more than two seconds clear of Japan's Niina Kanno, who took silver in 58.92 seconds, with Japan's Akane Kato third in 1 minute 0.26 seconds. Deepthi is a bronze medallist from the Paris Paralympics and was defending the title she won at the last Asian Para Games. President Droupadi Murmu congratulated her on X, saying the title defence and the new record made the win even more special.

Soorma leads an Indian one-two

Pranav Soorma won the men's discus throw F51/52/53 with a best throw of 11.66 metres, an Asian record in the F51 class that earned 932 Raza points. The event combines three classes, so places are decided on points rather than distance alone. Ram Ratan Singh made it an Indian one-two, taking silver with 10.35 metres and 809 points, and Iran's Alireza Hemami took bronze. Soorma won a silver medal in the club throw at the Paris Paralympics and has moved into discus contention at these Games. ANI reported that his win took India's tally to 28 medals, with seven golds, nine silvers and 12 bronzes.

Simran takes gold with a new guide

Simran Sharma won the women's 200m T12 in 24.80 seconds, a Games record, running with her guide Shivam. Iran's Hajjar Safarzadeh took silver in 25.02 seconds, and India's Tejalben Damor, on her Asian Para Games debut, took bronze in a personal best 25.23 seconds. Simran won bronze at the Paris Paralympics and silver in this event at the Hangzhou Games, where she ran 26.12 seconds. She has rebuilt her campaign with Shivam after her previous guide was banned for a doping violation, and she said after the race that poor recovery and tired legs had made the final hard work.

Medals across the programme

The records led a wider Indian medal day. Pradeep Kumar took silver and Ayush Verma bronze in the men's javelin throw F53/54, behind Iran's Erfan Bondori. Himanshu Nandal took bronze in the men's 400m freestyle S11 in 5 minutes 10.91 seconds, India's second para swimming medal of these Games. The Asian Para Games run in Aichi-Nagoya until October 24, and India, which won 11 medals on the opening day, is building one of its strongest campaigns at the event.