Sachin, Sidhartha Shine, India Bag Best-Ever Haul

Reigning world champion Sachin Sarjerao Khilari won a gold medal in men's shot put F46 event as India recorded their best-ever medal haul at the Asian Para Games on Thursday.

- Shantanu Srivastava

F46 events involve athletes with upper limb(s) disability, impaired muscle power, or impaired passive range of movement. Khilari, who created an Asian record with a throw of 16.21m at the Para Athletics World Championships in Paris en route a gold earlier this year, took the top spot in Hangzhou with a throw of 16.03m.

Khilari's effort was also a Games record, beating China's Wei Enlong's 2018 mark of 15.67m. Enlong, meanwhile, finished second with the best throw of 14.93m while India's Rohit Kumar took the bronze (14.56m) in the fiveman final.

The 33-year-old, who has already bagged a Paris Paralympics quota, began the proceedings with a moderate effort of 13.42m but warmed up with a throw of 15.11m. He fouled his next attempt but broke the Games record on the fourth try before logging a 15.46m effort. He closed the competition with a foul.

Such was Khilari's domination that three of his four throws would have won him a gold. Hailing from Karagani village in Maharashtra's Sangli district, Khilari met with an accident during his school days which led to disability in his left hand. He lost his muscles from the elbow due to gangrene and despite several surgeries, his arm never recovered.