India concluded their campaign at the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, with unprecedented success, securing a total of 17 medals, including six golds, and finishing sixth in the standings. (More Sports News)
This marks India's best-ever performance at the Championships, surpassing their previous record of 10 medals in Paris 2023.
Delhi sprinter Simran Sharma clinched the country's sixth gold on the final day, winning the women's 200m T12 event with a personal best time of 24.95 seconds.
Simran, who has a vision impairment and hails from Burari village, improved her previous best by over a fifth of a second. She was joined on the podium by Darlenys De La Severino of Dominica and Lorraine Gomes De Aguiar of Brazil, who took silver and bronze respectively.
Simran's achievement capped a remarkable campaign for India, which included golds from Deepthi Jeevanji (women's 400m T20), Sachin Khilari (men's shot put F46), Sumit Antil (men's javelin F64), Thangavelu Mariyappan (men's high jump T63), and Ekta Bhyan (women's club throw F51).
India's other medallists included Preethi Pal, who secured bronze in both the women's 100m and 200m T35 events, and Navdeep Singh, who won bronze in the men's javelin throw F41 category.
The Indian team’s medal tally was further boosted by a successful protest in the men's javelin throw F46 event, leading to the disqualification of Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyantha Herath. This upgrade awarded silver to Rinku Hooda and bronze to Ajeet Singh.
Head coach Satyanarayan expressed satisfaction with the results, stating, "The number of medals we won was more or less the same that we had targeted, though we had aimed for seven golds. Indian para-athletics and para-sports as a whole are growing. We have done better than the 2023 Paris edition which was the best performance then."
India's first medal -- a gold in men's javelin 46 event -- in the World Para Athletics Championships was won by the legendary Devendra Jhajharia, who is currently the Paralympic Committee of India president, in the 2013 edition in Lyon, France.
India are being represented by 40 athletes, including eight women, in this championship.
