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India’s teenage 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games silver medalist in men’s T64 category high jump, Praveen Kumar, proved a point on Saturday by winning gold at the 20th National Federation Cup U20 Athletics Championships in Nadiad, Gujarat.
Competing with able-bodied athletes, Kumar scaled a height of 2.06m to stamp his authority in the men’s high jump event.
“I’m as strong as others in the field of high jump in the junior group in India,” Kumar told Sportskeeda after winning the gold medal.
It was a challenging competition. The top four athletes cleared the bar at 2.06m. Kumar and Md Asraf Ali of West Bengal were declared joint winners. Aniket Mane of Maharashtra and Sandeep Kumar of Uttar Pradesh finished second and third, respectively. Both Mane and Sandeep also crossed the bar at 2.06m.
Kumar’s coach Satyapal Singh was excited to have witnessed good competition.
“Our goal was to do better. Nonetheless, winning a gold medal amongst the able-bodied athletes is a good achievement,” Singh said over the phone from Nadiad.
Kumar’s main aim this year was to compete in high jump at the World U20 Athletics Championships, scheduled to be held from August 1-6 in Colombia. The 18-year-old fell short of the qualifying standard of 2.15m.
“He tried his best. That’s more satisfying at the end of the competition,” Singh explained.
Kumar competed at the 25th National Federation Cup Athletics Championships held earlier this month in Kozhikode, Kerala. He finished sixth overall by clearing 2.05m.
Kumar was the youngest Indian to have won a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games held last year in Japan. Kumar’s performance of 2.07m in the Paralympic Games was an Asian record in the T64 category.
His next goal is to compete at the Open National Athletics Championships.
“We will have three solid months to further improve our skills,” Kumar’s coach said of their future plans.
