On the sixth day of the World Para Athletics Championships, reigning Paralympic champion Dharambir Nain and Atul Kaushik won a silver and a bronze for India in the men’s club throw and discus throw, respectively.
Dharambir, who had secured gold at the 2024 Paris Paralympics and bronze at the 2024 edition of the World Para Athletics Championships, achieved a 29.71m throw to claim second place in the men’s Club Throw F51 event.
Aleksandar Radisic of Serbia won gold with a 30.36m throw, while Uladzislau Hryb, a Neutral Paralympic Athlete, took bronze with 28.70m. Another Indian competitor, Pranav Soorma, finished fifth with a throw of 28.19m.
In the men’s discus throw F57 event, Kaushik placed third with a throw of 45.61m, behind Libya’s Mahmoud Rajab (46.73m) and world record holder Thiago Paulino Dos Santos (45.69m).
India’s 19-year-old Haney faced disappointment in his World Championships debut in the men’s discus throw F37 final. He was in medal contention from the start until Japan’s Yamato Shimbo moved from fourth to silver in the final round, pushing Haney off the podium.
Haney led after the first round with a throw of 51.22m but could not improve in subsequent attempts. Mexico’s Luis Carlos Lopez secured victory with a throw of 56.59m, setting a new championships record on his second try, while Mykola Zhabnyak from Ukraine moved ahead in the fourth round with 52.70m.
“I was sure of winning a bronze but in the last round of attempts, the Japanese went past me and I couldn’t do well either. I am very disappointed,” said Haney.
With no gold medals on the day, India dropped to seventh place from an earlier fourth in the medal table, with 4 gold, 5 silver, and 2 bronze medals.
Brazil strengthened their top position with 12 gold, 17 silver, and 7 bronze, followed by China (8-10-9) and Poland (7-2-5).
Earlier in the day, Saeid Afrooz of Iran in the men’s javelin throw F34 and Safia Djelal of Algeria in the women’s shot put F57 each set a world record.
Saeid Afrooz’s 41.52m throw improved on his own mark of 41.16m set at the Kobe edition in 2024, while Safia Djelal’s 11.67m effort bettered her own mark of 11.62m set in 2024. The number of world records set here has risen to 21, while 65 new championship records have been established so far.
