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It was a day of joy and celebration for the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Paralympic Games as medals galore were won in record-breaking performances by the country's athletes. With 7 medals won in total, India has comfortably surpassed its previous best of 4 medals (Rio 2016) at the Paralympic Games.
The day started with Avani Lekhara qualifying for the Women's 10m shooting finals in 7th place. What happened thereafter will be forever engraved in Indian sports history. Avani went on to put up a brilliant show and secured a gold medal. She equalled the world record in the process and gave the nation a huge reason to celebrate.
Next in action was Yogesh Kathuniya, who ensured that the jubilation didn't stop. Participating in the men's discus throw event, Yogesh performed brilliantly and bagged silver for India with a best throw of 44.38m.
Following Yogesh's brilliant finish was India's Swaroop Unhalkar who participated in the Men's 10m Air Rifle event. While he was close to securing a podium finish, Swaroop finished a close 4th behind shooters from China, Ukraine and Korea.
It was then the turn of India's javelin throwers, who were medal favourites at the start of the Games. Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Singh Gurjar put up fantastic performances to make it to the podium, securing silver and bronze, respectively. This was even more historic for India with two athletes on the same podium.
They were then followed by the brilliantSumit Antil, who smashed the world record three times and secured India's second gold medal in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics.
Checkout the Tokyo Paralympics Medal Table
How did India fare on day 5 of the Tokyo Paralympics?
The Indian contingent had as many as seven events scheduled for day 6 of Tokyo Paralympics 2021. The day turned out to be a grand one for the country with 4 medals bagged and multiple records broken.
Here's a summary of how the Indian athletes performed through the course of day 6 at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Avani Lekhara scripts history by winning gold; equals world record
India's new golden girl Avani Lekhara sent waves of joy and celebration across the country with her brilliance at the shooting range today. Qualifying for the final event in 7th spot, Avani put up her best show in the final round to not only secure first place, but also equal the world record with her brilliance in the shooting range.
With a world record-equalling score of 249.6, Avani became only the fourth Indian athlete to win a Paralympics gold after Murlikant Petkar (1972), Devendra Jhajharia (2004 & 2016) and Mariyappan Thangavelu (2016). Notably, she is India's first and only female Paralympics Gold Medalist.
Yogesh Kathuniya registers his name in history after bagging silver in discus throw
Yogesh Kathuniya, India's 23-year-old discus thrower, suffered a paralytic attack when he was just eight years old. The incident left him with coordination impairments in his limbs. With grit and determination, Yogesh Kathuniya, today finds himself on the podium of the greatest sporting stage - The Paralympics.
The youngster registered throws of x, 42.84, x, x, 43,55 and 44.38 to clinch silver for the nation. His sixth and final attempt happened to be his season's best and was sufficient to land him a podium finish at the Games.
Swaroop Unhalkar misses out on a podium spot; finishes fourth
Participating in the men's 10m Air Rifle event, India's Swaroop Unhalkar was in the lead at one point in the contest and looked all set for a podium finish at the Paralympic Games. However, he went slightly off-track in the sixth series with scores of 9.9 and 9.5 and got out of medal contention.
Nevertheless, Swaroop Unhalkar performed exceptionally well and ended with a score of 203.9 to secure fourth place. China's Chao Dong (246.5), Ukraine's Andrii Doroshenko (245.1) and Korea's Jinho Park (224.5) took home the gold, silver and bronze respectively.
Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Singh Gurjar script history; win silver and bronze respectively
India's javelin throwers Devendra Jhajharia and Sundar Singh Gurjar made heads turn at the Paralympics today as they bagged the silver bronze medals in the men's javelin throw event.
India's veteran Paralympian, Devendra Jhajharia, threw his personal best distance of 64.35m to secure a silver, while Sundar Singh threw 64.01m in the same event to earn himself bronze.
The moment was historic as it was the first time two Indians stood on the same podium at the Summer Games.
Sumit Antil smashes three world records; Bags Gold for India
Sumit Antil, participating in the men's F-64 Javelin throw event, scripted his name in history books by breaking three world records to grab the gold medal for India.
Sumit registered throws of 66.95m, 68.08m, 65.27m, 66.71m, 68.55m in his five attempts in the event. Sumit first set a WR with his first throw of 66.95m. He then followed it up with an attempt of 68.06 to break his own WR. In his last attempt, Sumit went further and broke his WR yet again with a throw of 68.55m.
Accompanying Sumit Antil on the podium were Australia's Michal Burian (66.29m) and Sri Lanka's Kodithuwakku Dulan (65.61m).
Sandeep Choudhary, the other Indian participating in the same event, was only able to manage 3 fair throws covering a distance of 61.13m, 62.20m, and 62.03m in his given attempts. He finished 4th, and missed out on a podium finish.
India Paralympics 2021: Medal tally and standings after Day 6
After a glorious day at the Games, India find themselves at the 26th place with 2 gold, 4 Silver and 1 bronze medal. At the top of the table is China with 119 medals including 54 gold. Far behind in second place is Great Britain with 68 medals including 26 gold.
With the medals earned today, India has comfortably surpassed its best ever medal haul of 4 medals at the Rio Paralympics 2016. With lots of action yet to come, many more medals can be expected from the country's athletes.
