Hooda beats world record holder compatriot Gurjar for F46 men''s javelin throw gold

New Delhi, Sep 29 (PTI) Rinku Hooda upstaged world record holder compatriot Sundar Singh Gurjar as Indians finished 1-2 in the men's javelin throw F46 event on the third day of the World Para Athletics Championships here on Monday.

Rinku won his maiden World Championships title with a throw of 66.37m while Gurjar sent his spear to 64.76m to take the silver. Another Indian in the fray, Ajeet Singh, was fourth with 61.77m. Cuban Guillermo Varona Gonzalez was third with 63.34m.

F46 classification is for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in arms, with athletes competing in a standing position.

After Rinku and Gurjar's 1-2 finish, India now have two gold, two silver and one bronze in the Championships.

India moved up to sixth spot in the medal table led by China (4 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze). Brazil (4-7-2), Poland (4-0-4), Switzerland (3-0-1) and Netherlands (3-0-0) are at second, third, fourth and fifth spots respectively.

"This is my first competition in India. I had a good feeling on the ground. Today was my day, so everything was in my favour. What I did was a new experience for me," Rinku said after his triumph.

Born to a farming family at Dhamar village on the outskirts of Haryana’s Rohtak, Rinku's left arm got stuck in a paddy-sowing machine while playing on his father's farmland when he was just three. He does not remember the incident but was told about that by his parents when he was eight.

He won a bronze in the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, a silver in the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships and also a silver in the 2023 Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.

Earlier in the morning, Neutral Paralympic Athlete (NPA) Denis Gnezdilov smashed the men's shot put F40 world record twice to win the gold medal.

His dominance in the event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was such that each of his five throws after the opening 10.66m effort was good enough for him to get the gold.

The 38-year-old Russian was in a league of his own, and his 11.85m effort on his third attempt bettered Paralympic gold medallist Portuguese Miguel Monteiro’s world record. The 11.92m throw on the last attempt raised the bar even higher in the event meant for short stature athletes.

Gnezdilov, the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic gold medal winner, claimed his third World Championship crown to continue his stranglehold on the event.

Russian, as well as Belarusian, athletes are competing as part of NPA as they are not allowed to compete under their national flag after the invasion of Ukraine.

Monteiro was second with 11.31m while Garrah Tnaiash of Iraq took the bronze with 10.86m.

There were two championship records that were breached on Monday morning.

Poland’s Bartosz Gorczak rewrote the meet mark in the men’s shot put F53 final with a 8.67m throw while the women’s discus throw F44 final witnessed Mexico’s Osiris Aneth Machado getting the gold with a championship record of 44.36m.

Poland won their second gold of the day through Faustyna Kotlowska in the women's discus throw F64 event.

Dayawanti breaks Asian record but finishes fourth =============================== Among other Indians in the fray on Monday, Dayawanti had the best placing, a 27.94m effort on her last attempt saw her finish fourth in the women's discus throw F64 final on Monday morning.

It fetched her the Asian Record but 1.51m separated her and the bronze medalist Alicia Guerrero of the United States of America.

Ayush Verma was fifth in the men's shot put F5 final, his best effort of 7.23m falling 97cm short of the bronze medal distance attained by Ales Kisy of Czechia.

Rongali Ravi, a seasoned campaigner, was unable to be in the mix in the dramatic men's shot put F40 final with his season's best effort of 10.10m, falling 76cm short of a podium finish. PTI PDS PDS UNG