NEW DELHI, March 11: India’s star high jumper Praveen Kumar soared to yet another gold, dominating his event as the hosts collected multiple medals on the opening day of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix here on Wednesday.
Praveen, the 2024 Paris Paralympics gold medallist, dominated the men’s T44 high jump, clearing 1.96m to take the top podium spot. Fellow Indians Unni Renu (1.86m) and Banti (1.83m) secured silver and bronze respectively in an event largely dominated by Indian participation, with limited foreign entries.
Shailesh Kumar clinched gold in the men’s T42 high jump with a leap of 1.84m, while Ramsingbhai Gov Padhiyar (1.65m) and Lokesh Mantra (1.60m) secured silver and bronze respectively, completing an Indian clean sweep in the event.
In the women’s 100m T35/T37 event, Preeti Pal, a double bronze medallist at the Paris Games, clinched gold after clocking 14.46 seconds, pushing Margarita Mataeva to second place (16.25s), while Karina Machulskaia took bronze in 17.38 seconds.
This marks Preeti Pal’s second major medal in less than a year after she had secured silver at the World Para Athletics Championships at the same venue last year.
In the men’s discus throw F11/F12, Monu won gold with a throw of 34.30m, Praveen Sharma took silver with 32.96m, and Sanjay Reddy Neelam secured bronze with 30.15m, giving India another podium sweep.
Indian athletes also dominated the men’s discus throw F37 event, where Haney won gold with a throw of 59.95m, while Rishi Raj Rathore secured silver with 46.25m and Bhavishay took bronze with 45.35m.
In the women’s 1500m T11/T12, India claimed all three medals with Soumya winning gold in 5:18.94, Rakshita Raju securing silver in 5:28.30, and Radha Venkatesh taking bronze with a time of 5:25.48.
In the women’s shot put F33/F34 event, Galina Lipatnikova won gold with a throw of 7.39m, while compatriot Vera Isakova secured silver with 6.11m. India’s Dipika Rani claimed bronze with 5.05m in one of the few events dominated by foreign athletes.
In the women’s shot put F56 event, Poonam won gold with a throw of 6.85m, followed by Zeljka Sandrk of Bosnia and Herzegovina who secured silver with 6.16m, while Vijayashree Kumar of India claimed bronze with 4.69m.
India swept the podium again in the men’s 1500m T11, where Ankur Dhama won gold with a time of 4:38.15, Keshavamurthy secured silver with 4:41.91, and Ravikumar Bankalagi claimed bronze with 5:41.80.In the men’s 1500m T20 India’s Bhushan claimed bronze with 4:31.98. (PTI)
