Tokyo: Pakistan’s discus thrower Haider Ali claimed the first-ever gold medal for the country in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Friday with a throw of 55.26 metres throw in his fifth attempt out of the total six.
This is Haider’s third medal in the showpiece as he has previously landed a silver in Beijing 2008 and a bronze in Rio 2016 - in the long jump event.
It was a tense outing as his first two throws were disqualified, almost costing him a spot in the contest. He nailed his third attempt with a throw of 47.84 meters while the fourth throw was a foul. However, his fifth attempt was a classy throw that helped him earn the medal in the coveted event. Ukraine’s Zhabnyak, with a 52.43 metres throw, finished second to win a silver medal while Brazilian Teixeira de Souza took bronze with a 51.86 throw.
Meanwhile, Indian gold medallist Para shooter Avani Lekhara clinched her second medal in Tokyo with a bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3P SH1 event. The 19-year-old Avani had earlier created quite a stir with the gold medal in women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 with a world record equalling score of 249.6. This was India’s second medal of the day after Praveen Kumar bagged a silver medal in men’s T64 high jump.
Avani finished with a total score of 445.9 to finish third - giving India their 12th medal at the ongoing Games. She also became the first woman and second Indian after Joginder Singh Bedi to win more than one medal in the same edition of the Paralympics.
Bedi won a silver in shot put L6 followed by bronze medals in Javelin Throw F46 and Discus Throw L6 at the 1984 Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville.
Zhang Cuiping of China won the gold with a Paralympics record score of 457.9 while Natascha Hiltrop of Germany won the silver with a score of 457.1.
Avani will be next seen in action on Sunday in the mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 event.
