India wins gold medals in men's and women's divisions of the Kabaddi World Cup

In the second thrilling T20 match between India and New Zealand, the Indian team secured a convincing four-wicket victory, increasing their advantage in the five-match series to 2-0. This match was held at the Hagley Oval stadium in Christchurch.

New Zealand started the game by scoring 180 runs in 20 overs, losing five wickets. When the Indian team came out, they faced a situation where they were consecutively losing batsmen, and it seemed the match was slipping away from them. However, eventually, the young Indian players managed to save the team.

After the early departure of key players, lower-order batsmen took responsibility and helped the team overcome difficulties. Following this tense victory, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer openly shared his thoughts. Iyer admitted that when there was a series of losses, he felt the match was getting out of control.

However, after that, Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy demonstrated incredible determination and changed the course of the game. Furthermore, he highly praised the small but very effective innings of Naman Dheer. Discussing Naman Dheer's versatility, Iyer mentioned seeing him during the series against West India at home. He noted that Naman is an excellent bowler, and when a player contributes both with the bat and with the ball, it brings a special energy to the team.

Iyer also complimented New Zealand spinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bresshaw, noting that their play in the middle overs and control of the game made scoring difficult. He added that they played several dot balls at the beginning, which increased the pressure on the pace of the game. Nevertheless, in the end, Nitish and Tilak managed to withstand this pressure and led the team to victory.

Despite India gaining a comfortable 2-0 lead in the series, Iyer emphasized that it was too early to celebrate. He stated that the work was not finished, indicating the Indian team's desire to maintain its momentum in upcoming matches to completely win the series.

Indian archery star Shital Devi once again demonstrated her mastery at the Asian Para Games. The 19-year-old athlete, who competes in hand-free archery, won two gold medals in less than two hours. Furthermore, Indian para-athletes continued an impressive run in athletics, bringing the country's total medal count to 88.

The reigning world champion and world number one, Shital Devi, primarily won gold in the mixed team discipline alongside Toman Kumar. The Indian para-team defeated the Indonesian team, consisting of Theodor Audi Audia Fereli and Ken Swagumilang, with a score of 151-148. Following this, Shital Devi defeated Singapore's Alim Nur Syahidah in the final of the women's individual compound competition with a score of 142-139. Shital Devi managed this victory after trailing by four points, replicating her performance result from the individual final in Hangzhou 2023.

Summary of India's Medals

On Thursday, India increased its medal tally to 88. These awards include 21 gold, 26 silver, and 41 bronze medals. Paralympic athletics remains the main source of awards for India. In this discipline, Indians secured a total of 52 medals: 18 gold, 16 silver, and 18 bronze. Medals were also won by Indian athletes in para-swimming, para-badminton, and para-tennis.

The day began with Suvarna Raj winning a gold medal. The 44-year-old athlete in a wheelchair won gold in the F54 women's discus throw, achieving a best result of 15.66 meters. She made four throws over 15 meters.

Indian Dominance in High Jump

In the men's T63 high jump discipline, India achieved a complete triumph, securing gold, silver, and bronze. Sheilesh Kumar set a games record by jumping 1.89 meters, winning gold. He had previously won a bronze medal in the long jump on Wednesday. Varun Bati, a Paralympic medalist in bronze, won silver by jumping 1.84 meters, while Rahul came in third with a result of 1.81 meters.

In the women's 400m race T47, Anjanaben Bumbadia won gold, finishing in 59.97 seconds. Jayanti Behra took second place, running 1 minute 0.65 seconds. In the men's 400m race T47, Dileep Mahadu Gawit won gold, completing the race in 48.27 seconds. He also took first place in the 100m race on Wednesday.

In the long jump, Dharmraj Solridge maintained his title, setting an Asian record by jumping 7.15 meters in the T44/T62/T64 combined event. Meanwhile, the visually impaired Tejalbhen Damor won silver in the women's 400m race T12, running in 57.60 seconds. Previously, he had already won bronze in the T12 200m race.

Historic Success in Archery

Indian archer Swati Choudhary made history by winning a silver medal in the women's individual W1 category. She became the first athlete to win a medal in this category at the Asian Para Games. In the final, she faced Sen Mengkan from China, losing with a score of 4-6.

Four Medals in Para-Swimming

India won four more medals in para-swimming on Thursday. Ravi Budhigina won bronze in the men's 50m sprint S13, finishing in 25.89 seconds. This is the third medal in these games for the 18-year-old blind swimmer from Andhra Pradesh. Earlier, he had won silver in the butterfly and freestyle events over 100 meters. Kapil Kumar won silver in the men's 400m freestyle S10, finishing the race in 4 minutes 38.44 seconds. Japan's Akito Minai won gold, setting a game record. Swatik Patil won bronze in the men's 100m breaststroke SB9, finishing in 1 minute 13.77 seconds. Tejas Nandkamar placed third in the men's 100m butterfly S7, posting a time of 1 minute 18.58 seconds. Thus, the total number of medals for Indian swimmers reached 10, although no gold medals have been won yet.

India's Success in Para-Badminton

India continues to demonstrate outstanding results in para-badminton. In the men's singles SL3 final, Pramod Bhagat and Nitesh Kumar will meet, guaranteeing India at least a silver medal. Six-time world champion and Tokyo Paralympics medalist Pramod Bhagat defeated Lee Seunggu from South Korea with a score of 16-21, 21-18, 21-17. This match lasted 2 hours and 9 minutes. Beijing Paralympics champion Nitesh Kumar advanced to the men's singles SL3 final, defeating Im Imran from Indonesia with a score of 21-19, 21-16. He also reached the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 final, where he defeated the pair of Li Mingpin and Xiao Zhuxiang from China with a score of 21-19, 14-21, 21-17 alongside Tulasmithi Murugesan. Navin Shivkumar advanced to the men's singles SL4 final. Indian para-skiers also won five bronze medals in various disciplines.

Bronze for Bhavina Patel in Tennis

In tennis, Bhavina Patel and Shubham Vadхва won a bronze medal in the mixed doubles XD7 competition. The Indian pair lost in the semi-finals to the South Korean team of Jang Youngjin and Lee Migyu with a score of 6-11, 11-8, 5-11, 8-11. Bhavina and Shubham reached the semi-finals after defeating the Japanese pair of Kimi Besso and Masanori Yuno with a score of 11-9, 11-3, 11-6 in the quarter-finals, which secured them a medal.

Indian athletes demonstrated outstanding results at the Asian Para Games on Thursday, winning two gold medals. In shooting, the team of Shital Devi and Toman Kumar won the team tournament in mixed archery, while Suvarna Raj won gold in the women's F54 discus throw discipline.

Furthermore, Swati Chaudhary achieved a historic feat by bringing India its first medal in the W1 shooting category, although she had to settle for silver in the final due to a loss.

The highly ranked pair Shital Devi and Toman Kumar won the gold medal in the mixed team final, defeating the Indonesian pair with a score of 151-148. Prior to this, the Indian pair set a world record in the qualification round.

During the final, the Indian archers demonstrated brilliant shots from the beginning. In the first round, India gained a small advantage of 38-37. After the second round, the team's lead reached 77-73, and the Indian athletes maintained their dominance, winning the match by three points.

Shital Devi, who was born without arms, controls a composite bow with her feet and releases arrows using her shoulder and jaw to draw the string.

Indian Suvarna Raj won the gold medal in the women's F54 discus throw competition, achieving the best throw of 15.66 meters. The 44-year-old resident of Greater Noida threw the discus further than 15 meters four times out of six attempts.

She secured first place on the fifth attempt, reaching a distance of 15.66 meters. Silver was won by Shala Hadidi from Iran with a throw of 15.45 meters, and bronze by Ngoc Thuy Nguyen from Vietnam with a result of 14.65 meters.

The F54 category is intended for athletes whose trunk and lower limb functionality is impaired. In this category, competitions are held seated in a throwing chair, and throws are performed mainly using upper body strength and arm movement. Restrictions on trunk control also affect throwing technique.

Indian shooter Swati Chaudhary achieved a historic achievement by winning the silver medal in the individual W1 category for women. She became the first athlete to bring India a medal in this category at the Asian Para Games in shooting.

However, in the final, she faced a defeat with a score of 4-6 against Sen Mengkan from China. Highly ranked Swati initially took a lead of 4-2, but the Chinese archer managed to brilliantly recover, showing a consistently high level of play and winning the gold medal.

Swati, who trains at the Gurukul Shooting Academy in Merat under the guidance of Olympian Atens Satvedev Prasad, demonstrated a serious challenge in the final. Nevertheless, in the last two rounds, the Chinese player turned the tide of the match, leaving Swati with a silver medal, which was still a major achievement for Indian para-shooting.