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High jumper Praveen Kumar upgraded his Tokyo silver medal to a gold with a record-smashing performance, helping India nose ahead of the likes of Canada and Korea in the overall standings, as the country's para-athletes continued to defy projections in their best-ever Paralympic performance in Paris on Friday.
The 21-year-old from Noida, who was born with a short leg, set a new Asian record of 2.08 metres in the T64 category, which also featured athletes of T44 classification.
He finished ahead of the USA's Derek Loccident (2.06m) and Uzbekistan's Temurbek Giyazov (2.03m).
T64 is for athletes with movement moderately affected in one lower leg or the absence of one or both legs below the knee, while T44, to which Praveen belongs, is for athletes with movement affected at a low or moderate degree in one lower leg.
The country's medal haul swelled to 26, including six gold, nine silver and 11 bronze medals. The performance surpasses all pre-Games projections. With one more day of competitions left, it is expected to get better.
Opting to start from 1.89m, Kumar aced seven jumps in his first attempt to put himself in pole position. The bar was then raised to 2.10m, with Kumar and Loccident fighting for the top spot, but both failed to clear the mark.
Praveen, who was also the 2023 World Championships bronze-medallist, recorded not just an Asian record but his personal best performance too.
His impairment, which is congenital, affects the bones that connect his hip to his left leg
In his formative years, Kumar confessed to grappling with feelings of inadequacy.
He started playing sports to deal with his insecurities and found a passion for volleyball. But his life changed when he took part in a high jump event at an able-bodied athletics competition.
He is the third high jumper after Sharad Kumar and Mariyappan Thangavelu to secure a medal in Paris.
Sharad and Thangavelu won silver and bronze in the men's high jump T63 event on September 3.
Simran through to 200 metres semis
Visually impaired Simran Sharma, the reigning World champion, breezed into the final of the women's 200 metres T12 run in 25.03 seconds. She had earlier topped her heat and entered the semi-finals with a timing of 25.41s.
Simran was in the same heat as Germany's Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt, who pipped her to bronze on Thursday night in the 100 metres final.
The Indian sprinter, who became World champion this year in Kobe, was born prematurely with visual impairment and faced numerous challenges throughout her life, including her father's chronic illness and eventual passing.
Those difficult days instilled in her fighting spirit and a desire to overcome obstacles.
The T12 classification in the Paralympics is for athletes with visual impairments. Simran was born prematurely and spent the next 10 weeks in an incubator where it was discovered that she is visually impaired.
Her breakthrough came at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championship, where she competed despite fear of losing her father.
Although she lost her father shortly after returning from the event, she channeled her grief into motivation, determined to honour his memory through her achievements.
Bhavanaben finishes creditable 5th in Javelin Throw F46
Bhavanaben Ajabaji Chaudhary finished a creditable fifth with a personal best effort of 39.70 metres in the women's Javelin Throw F46 final at the Paralympic Games in Paris on Friday.
She began with a new personal best of 37.31m, an improvement from her previous best, to hold third place at the start.
But the Netherlands athlete Noelle Roorda's throw of 38.57m in her first attempt pushed Bhavanaben to fourth.
Bhavanaben's second attempt was also a good 36.40m, but the others achieved bigger throws and the Indian found herself occupying sixth place.
In her third attempt, however, Bhavanaben came up with another personal best effort of 39.64m to climb to third. She stayed there briefly before dropping to fourth.
The 26-year-old then produced a better throw of 39.70m and held on to fourth place with two more attempts to go.
However, a 40.58m throw by Noelle pushed Bhavanaben down to fifth.
She managed a throw of 35.39m in her sixth and last attempt, but it was not enough for a top-three finish as four of her competitors breached the 40m mark.
Naibys Daniela Morillo Gil of Venezuela, who recorded a monstrous Paralympic games record 43.77m, won the gold medal.
Uzbekistan's 15-year-old Yigitalieva Shahinakhon, with a huge Asian record throw of 43.12m, claimed the silver while Hollie Arnold of Great Britain bagged bronze with an effort of 40.59.
Coming into this competition, Bhavanaben had a personal best of 35.66 and a season's best of 34.23.
The F46 classification in the javelin throw is for field athletes with moderately affected movement in one or both arms, or the absence of limbs. Athletes in this classification compete while standing.
From birth, Bhavanaben faced challenges as her left hand did not function properly, making it difficult for her to consider playing sports.
Canoers enter semi-finals
India’s canoers Prachi Yadav and Yash Kumar qualified for the semi-finals of women's VL2 200m and men's KL1 200m events after finishing fourth and sixth in their respective heat.
While Prachi and Pooja Ojha clocked 1:06.83s and 1:16.09s in the women's va'a single 200m VL2 heat 1 and KL1 200m heat 2 respectively, Yash came up with a timing of 1:03.27s in men's KL 200m heat.
The semi-finals are on Saturday.
The winner of each heat qualifies directly for the final, while the remainder go to the semi-finals. The three fastest athletes of each semi-final make it to the final.
KL1 classification is for athletes with no or extremely limited trunk function and no function in the legs, while VL2 is for those with partial leg and trunk function, able to sit up straight in the kayak but may require a high-backed seat.
Javelin thrower Dipesh finishes last
India's Dipesh Kumar was last in the final of the men's javelin throw F54 event. The 19-year-old finished at the bottom in a seven-man field with a best throw of 26.11m.
Dipesh, who won a gold medal in the Khelo India Para Games at New Delhi in December 2023, was the last athlete to throw in his event and needed above 30 to be in contention for a podium place. However, he finished well short of that mark.
Athletes classified in F54 category compete in field events from a seated position. Different disability groups compete in this class, including people with spinal cord injuries.