Asian Para Games: India wins 4 medals; Judoka Kokila bags silver
Synopsis
Judoka Kokila clinched a silver medal at the 2026 Asian Para Games. Her win contributed to India's four-medal haul on the opening day, which included a gold and silver for para-shooters and a bronze for para-judoka Kapil Parmar.
Indian Judoka Kokila clinched the silver medal in the women's J2 -52kg judo event at the 2026 Asian Para Games on Monday after losing to Kyrgyzstan's Aibike Ulanbek Kyzy in the final at the Aichi Prefectural Martial Arts Hall. Kokila's challenge in the gold medal bout ended in just 21 seconds, with Aibike securing victory by Ippon.
Despite the defeat, the Indian judoka finished on the podium to add a silver medal to India's tally at the continental multi-sport event. Kokila's silver marked India's fourth medal on the opening day of the Games, following a gold and a silver for para-shooters Mona Agarwal and Avani Lekhara, respectively, in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 event, and a bronze for para-judoka Kapil Parmar in the men's J1 -70kg category. Parmar secured his medal earlier in the day by defeating Indonesia's Shidqi Rafli Ahnaf by Ippon in just 69 seconds in the bronze medal match. It was his second Asian Para Games medal, following silver at Hangzhou in 2023, and India's first medal in para judo at the ongoing edition.
Para Table Tennis: Sonalben Patel Assures Medal
Meanwhile, Indian para-table tennis player Sonalben Patel assured herself of a medal after defeating Thailand's Dararat Asayut 3-1 in the women's singles Class 3 quarterfinals. Sonalben won 11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5 to reach the semifinals, where she will face South Korea's top seed Jiyu Yoon on Tuesday.
Other Indian Performances
Para Powerlifting
In para powerlifting, Jaspreet Kaur finished fourth in the women's 45kg final with a best lift of 100kg. The reigning Asian medallist began with a successful 100kg lift but failed to improve her mark in her subsequent attempts. Kazakhstan's Berimkulova overtook her with a 101kg lift to secure a place ahead of the Indian.
Para Swimming
In para swimming, Vaishnavi Vinod Jagtap finished sixth in the women's 400m freestyle S8 final, clocking 6:22.72. China's Tingting Zheng won gold in 5:15.40. India's Niranjan Mukundan and Gopichand Lingutla finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the men's 400m freestyle S7 final. Niranjan clocked 5:38.77, while Gopichand finished in 5:40.44.
Boccia
In boccia, Anjali Devi lost 0-8 to South Korea's Ye Jin Choi in the women's individual BC3 pool stage. She had opened her campaign with a 9-0 victory over Japan's Yuika Sakai and will next face Singapore's Mohammad Nurulasyiqah on Tuesday. In the men's individual BC3 event, Sachin Chamaria was eliminated after losing both his matches on Monday. He first went down 1-5 against Japan's Kazuki Takahashi before suffering a 1-7 defeat to South Korea's Howon Jeong. (ANI)