India bagged three medals at the Tokyo Paralympics on August 29, as Bhavina Patel in Table Tennis, and Nishad Kumar in High Jump fetched Silver medals, and Vinod Kumar won a Bronze medal in Discus Throw.
Bhavina’s Silver
Bhavina, who reached the finals in Table Tennis Class 4 after defeating World no 3 Zhang Miao in a fiercely contested five-game match yesterday, lost to the top-ranked Chinese player Zhou Ying in the Final.
Bhavina Patel’s silver kick-started India’s medal hunt on Sunday, India’s National Sports Day.
Bhavina Patel who works for Employees State Insurance Corporation, is now awarded with Rs. 3 Cr reward by her home state Gujarat’s government.
Nishad’s Silver
Nishad Kumar won the Men’s High Jump (T 47) by jumping 2.06m, falling short of American Roderick Townsend’s jump of gold-clinching 2.15m.
Nishad’s jump was on par with another American, Dallas Wise. As Nishad cleared the 2.02 mark in his first attempt while Dallas took two attempts, Nishad was awarded the silver, and Dallas Wise settled for the Bronze.
Watch Nishad Kumar jump 2.06m to bring home the silver.
Vinod Kumar’s Bronze
Vinod Kumar, who lost the use of his limbs during training while he was with the BSF (Border Security Force), ran a grocery store in a wheelchair.
Taking up sports in his 30s, Vinod Kumar eventually won the Bronze Medal in Men’s F52 Discus Throw at the Tokyo Paralympics, with a throw of 19.91 meters in the fifth of his six attempts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated all three athletes as the events unfolded during day five of the Paralympics. Congratulations also poured in for the athletes from celebrities and netizens.