Troubled by injury, Praveen settles for high jump bronze at World Para Athletics

New Delhi, Oct 4 (PTI) There was a tinge of sadness in Praveen Kumar's walk following his bronze in high jump, while Ekta Bhyan looked at the positive side after failing to retain her title and settling for silver in the club throw event on the penultimate day of World Para Athletics Championships here on Saturday.

India added a silver and two bronze, to take their tally to 18 (6-6-6), their best performance at the Worlds with a day to go. Their previous best was in Kobe 2024 (Japan), where they won 17 medals (6-5-6). Brazil continued to top the charts with 37 medals (12-19-6).

India's third medal on the day came in men's shot put F57 category with 42-year-old army man Soman Rana bagging the bronze with a season's best of 14.69m. The Hangzhou Asian Games silver medallist's best throw came in the fourth attempt.

However, Rana's bronze could get upgraded to silver on Sunday as an appeal has been lodged against Brazil's Thiago Paulino Dos Santos, who finished ahead of the Indian.

Late on Saturday evening, the World Para Athletics Championships website started showing Rana's bronze had been upgraded but one of the organisers said the final hearing will "take place on Sunday and only after that a decision on the upgrade will be taken." Paris Paralympic gold medallist Praveen Kumar had to settle for bronze in the men's T64 high jump at the Asian Para Games after clearing a season's best 2.00 metres.

Uzbekistan's 2018 champion Temurbek Giyazov won gold with a personal best of 2.03m, while Great Britain's Jonathan Broom-Edwards took silver on countback, having cleared 2.00m on his first attempt.

Praveen, who cleared the same height on his second attempt, finished third despite matching the Briton's mark.

On a day when India failed to secure a gold, Praveen appeared in discomfort, shortening his run-up and grimacing after each attempt.

He cleared 1.97m comfortably but stumbled at 2.00m on his first try before making it on the second.

With the bar raised to 2.03m, the Indian faltered in all three attempts, ending his campaign with a best of 2.00m.

"I have been nursing a hip injury for the last 10-12 days, which is why I shortened my run-up," said the 22-year-old.

"I am not at all happy with my performance. I was attempting 2.07m in training and I suffered a stretch injury in my hip. Every time I was attempting a takeoff, I was having discomfort. Even as I stand here I am having pain in the affected leg," said the T64 athlete, who has a unilateral below-knee limb deficiency.

The other Indian in the fray, the 22-year-old Banti finished sixth with a personal-best jump o1 1.87m.

"He is shaping up well. If he takes care of his body I'm sure he will cross 2.00m and be in contention for the 2026 Asian Para Games in Japan," added Praveen.

Praveen added that his injury should heal in 1-2 months as he set sight on defending the Asian Para Games gold.

"I am disappointed because the World Para Athletics are taking place in India for the first time and I could not give my personal best (of 2.08m). I had been consistently doing 2.05m in training before injury and had a target of 2.10m, but things changed after the injury," added Praveen.

Bhyan settles for silver in F51 club throw ======================== Ekta Bhyan saw the positive side of it after failing to defend her 2024 Worlds club thrower F51 gold here with her season's best of 19.80m in the sixth and final attempt.

Ukraine's Zoia Ovsii came up with a massive heave of 24.03m in her fifth attempt to take the gold, while Neutral Para Athlete Ekaterina Potapova (18.60m) bagged the bronze.

The 40-year-old Indian, who has a personal best of 21.66, was outdone by an athlete who has been the undisputed leader for several years, winning three World Championships gold and the top-podium finish at the Tokyo Paralympics.

"I am super happy, This is my third Worlds medal and I am glad that I could repeat my performance. Now looking forward to the 2028 LA Paralympics," said the wheelchair-bound Ekta.

She competes in the F51 category for athletes with severe impairments of muscle power and range of movement in their limbs and trunk, with no trunk or leg function, but with full function in their shoulders, arms, and hands.

"The performance here was okay. The humidity was really bad and it's very difficult to regulate the body temperature in this weather," said the 40-year-old gold medallist at the 1018 Jakarta Asian Para Games.

"The target was to win gold. I worked a lot on my skill and strength in the last one year. It's a sigh of relief. It comes after the (F51) event was not included in the Paris Paralympics," said the Hissar para athlete.

Soman Rana takes bronze =============== Army man Soman Rana, who lost his right leg in a mine blast in 2006, won the biggest medal of his international career, securing bronze in men's shot put F57 category with a throw of 14.69m, while the other two Indians Hokato Hotozhe Sema (14.35m) and Shubham Juyal (13.72m) finished sixth and seventh respectively in the event, which has individuals with significant leg length differences or limb deficiencies.

Yasin Khosravi, 33, maintained his dominance in the event with a hat-trick of World Para Athletics Championships titles with a world record throw of 16.60m. All of Khosravi's throws were above 15m, while his sixth and last throw simply left the spectators awestruck. PTI AM AM AH AM TAP