Aichi-Nagoya (Japan), October 19: India made a flying start to their campaign at the 5th Asian Para Games 2026, winning 11 medals — four gold, five silver and two bronze — on the opening day of competition on Monday to sit fourth in the overall standings, behind China, Japan and Uzbekistan.

Para shooting delivered India's first one-two of the Games: Mona Agarwal won gold in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 (R2) event with a score of 250.0, a new Asian Para Games record, while defending champion Avani Lekhara took silver with 249.6. The two results also secured India quota places for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics.

In para athletics, two-time Paralympic silver medallist Nishad Kumar clinched gold in the men's T47 long jump with a best effort of 7.11 metres — in his first international appearance in the discipline.

India repeated the one-two in the men's javelin throw F46, where Rinku Hooda won gold with 65.11 metres and Ajeet Singh claimed silver with 65.02 metres.

On the track, Soumya Kumar won the women's 1500m T12/13 title in a personal-best 5:12.39, with Radha Venkatesh taking silver in 5:30.90, while Ravanni Valasanaini won bronze in the women's 1500m T11 in a personal-best 5:41.85.

Para judo added two medals — silver for Kokila and a bronze for Kapil Parmar in the men's J1 -70kg category — and 18-year-old Ravi Karthik Budigina won silver in the men's 100m freestyle S13, clocking 56.80 seconds.

In para archery, Sheetal Devi and Toman Kumar set a new world record in the mixed team compound ranking round, combining for 1,402 points to surpass the previous mark of 1,400.

The 5th Asian Para Games are being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from October 18 to 24, 2026. India has fielded 168 athletes across 11 sports and will look to build on the strong start over the remaining days of competition.

Sources: ANI; The Daily Jagran; ESPN medal tracker.