India Rises to Fourth at Asian Para Games After Record 26-Medal Day

India experienced its most successful day at the Asian Para Games on Thursday, capturing an impressive 26 medals including seven golds to reclaim fourth place in the overall standings. The dominant single-day performance brought the nation's cumulative total to 88 medals, consisting of 21 gold, 26 silver, and 41 bronze, with para-athletics leading the charge.

After opening the competition in fourth place, the Indian contingent had slipped to sixth and fifth on subsequent days. Thursday's surge allowed the country to leapfrog South Korea, which holds an identical number of gold medals but fewer silver and bronze finishes. China continued its overwhelming dominance at the top of the leaderboard, surpassing 300 total medals.

Teenage sensation Sheetal Devi highlighted India's success by securing two gold medals within a two-hour span. The 19-year-old reigning world champion partnered with Toman Kumar to defend the mixed team compound title against Indonesia before overcoming a four-point deficit to defeat Singapore's Alim Nur Syahidah 142-139 in the individual final, successfully defending the crown she won in Hangzhou in 2023.

The day's events began with Suvarna Raj triumphing in the women's F54 discus throw, recording a best effort of 15.66 meters to secure her career-best victory. Dilip Gavit added another gold by defending his men's 400m T47 title with a time of 48.27 seconds, while Solairaj Dharmaraj closed out the day's events by setting an Asian record of 7.15 meters to win the men's long jump T44/T62/T64 final.

Para-athletics has emerged as the country's primary source of success at the competition, contributing a total of 52 medals to India's count, including 18 golds, 16 silvers, and 18 bronzes. Additional podium finishes across the multi-sport event came from para-swimming, para-badminton, and para-table tennis.

At the top of the medal table, China firmly commands the standings with 313 total medals, featuring 149 golds. Host nation Japan occupies second place with 136 medals, while Uzbekistan sits in third with 117 medals. The top ten nations are rounded out by India, South Korea, Iran, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Iraq as the competition progresses.