Adding to the medal-tally of one gold, Indian para-athlete Amit Kumar Saroha clinched the silver in men's club throw F51 competition in the World Para Athletics Championships in London on Monday. Sundar Singh Gurjar had earlier won the gold for India in the F46 men’s javelin throw event with a personal best effort of 60.36m on the opening night.
Day 4 of the Championship witnessed three events with Indian participation - the men’s Club Throw F51, men’s Triple Jump T47, and men’s 400m T44.
The highlight of the day was Saroha's impeccable throw of 30.25m, which came in his third attempt, in the process clocking a new Asian record in this event. Serbian Zeljko Dimitrijevic retained the title with a world record throw of 31.99m. The other Indian in the fray, Dharambir finished 10th with a best throw of 22.34m.
32-year-old Amit Kumar had also won a silver in this event in the last edition of the biennial championships in Doha in 2015 and a gold medal in the 2014 Incheon Asian Para Games. He is also the first quadriplegic athlete to represent India at a Paralympic Games (London 2012).
India’s next event for the day was Men’s Triple Jump T47. Lone Indian representative in the event, Amit Kumar finished in fifth place. The 25-year-old registered a jump of 13.38m. The event was won by American Tobi Fawehinmi as the 21-year-old recorded a jump of 14.88m to clinch the gold. The silver and the bronze were won by Chris Kouttoulias of Greece and Hajimu Ashida of Japan respectively.
The final event of the day, the Men's 400m T44 Final featured two Indians, Vinay Kumar Lal and Anandan Gunasekaran. 18-year-old Vinay Kumar agonizingly missed out on a medal finishing fourth with a personal best timing of 54.07. Michail Seitis of Greece clinched the gold with a dominant performance, clocking at 51.41. Italian Simone Manigrasso took the silver.
Day 5 will feature eight Indians in five different events - Men's Discus Throw F52 Final (Amit Kumar), Men's Long Jump T42 Final (Vijay Kumar), Men's Shot Put F46 Final (Yasser Mohammad and Sundar Singh Gurjar), Results - Men's Javelin Throw F44 Final (Sandeep, Prasanna Kumar and Narender), Men's Javelin Throw F57 Final (Virender).
