Asian Para Games 2023: Pranav Soorma, Nishad Kumar clinch gold in men's F51 club throw and T47 high jump

India has won 10 medals so far in the opening day.

In the men's club throw F51 event Asian Para Games 2023, Pranav Soorma demonstrated outstanding performance by securing the gold medal with a remarkable throw of 30.01m, setting a new Games record.

Dharambir and Amit Kumar followed closely, claiming the second and third positions with throws of 28.76 meters and 26.93 meters, respectively. This event featured only four competitors, underlining the exceptional achievement of these athletes. Saudi Arabia's Radhi Ali Alharthi, with a throw of 23.77 meters, concluded the competition.

The club throw is an athletic throwing event where the objective is to throw a wooden club. The F51 club throw is a Paralympic event that's similar to the Olympic hammer throw. In the event, athletes throw a club that weighs about 14 oz (400 grams) while sitting. India clean sweeped all the three medals in the event.

Later in the day, 2020 Tokyo Paralymics silver medalist Nishad Kumar, soared to victory in the men's high jump T47, clinching the gold medal and setting a new Asian Games record. Nishad's remarkable leap of 2.02 meters outshone his competitors, securing his well-deserved first-place finish. China's Hongjie Chen and India's Ram Pal both earned silver medals, each clearing the bar at 1.94 meters.

The T47 classification is primarily for competitors with a below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment. India secured a double podium finish in the event. Shailesh Kumar set a new Asian Para Games record of 1.82m to win the men's high jump T63 gold, with Mariyappan Thangavelu taking silver. It's worth noting that the event featured only the three Indian competitors overall.