Kobe (Japan), May 21: Indians seem to be dominating the javelin throw contests round the globe.
If Neeraj Chopra, Kishore Jena and DP Manu are making their presence felt in men's javelin throw category and are eyeing more than one Paris Olympics medal, then para-athlete Sumit Antil is also busy winning Gold medals.
Sumit Antil, the reigning Paralympics champion won the Gold medal in the Men's Javelin Throw F64 category at the Para-Athletics World Championships, here on Tuesday.
The 25-year-old World Record holder defended his Gold with a season-best throw of 69.50 metres while his compatriot Sandeep Chaudhary pocketed bronze with a mark of 60.41. Sri Lanka's Dulan Kodithuwakku won the Silver.
In the last edition of the World Championships, Antil came up with an effort of 70.83m, the then world record mark, to clinch a gold. Months later, he smashed his own record when he hurled the javelin to 73.29m at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games.
Later, Paralympics Games gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu won gold in the men's high jump T63 event with a Championship Record mark of 1.88m.
With this medal, India's medal tally stands at 9, including 4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze medals.
Earlier in the day, Ekta Bhyan secured a gold medal for India in the women’s F51 Club Throw event with a season’s best effort of 20.12m. It was a double podium finish for India in the competition as Kashish Lakra secured a silver medal with a 14.56m mark. Nadjet Boucherf of Algeria pocketed the bronze with 12.70m.
Neeraj Chopra was the first Indian to win a track and field medal in Tokyo Olympics. May be Kishore Jena and DP Manu may also have a podium finish, as experts believe and recent performances indicate. But at the same time Sumit Antil dominating the event among para-athletes is no mean feat. He seems almost a certainty for more global laurels in future. (With IANS support)
