Inspired by the country’s armed forces and cricket star Virat Kohli, a determined Kumar Nitesh sparkled with a gold medal on debut before javelin throw champion Sumit Antil joined India’s para-badminton players in ensuring that the nation celebrated its best day at the ongoing Paralympic Games.
Thanks to their heroics, India remained on course for a record-breaking medal haul.
Nitesh, a 29-year-old engineering graduate from IIT-Mandi, who lost his left leg in a train accident back in 2009, won the top honours in the men’s singles SL3 category, defeating Tokyo silver-medallist Daniel Bethell of Britain 21-14 18-21 23-21 in a gruelling final that lasted over an hour.
Later in the evening, Antil hogged the limelight with his exploits as he became the first Indian man to defend Paralympic title by winning the javelin throw F64 final with a Games record of 70.59m.
The 26-year-old world record holder from Sonipat in Haryana bettered his own earlier Paralympic best of 68.55m set in Tokyo while winning the gold three years ago.