Preethi, 23, bagged her second bronze in the 200m T35 category with a personal best time of 30.01 seconds, following her bronze in the 100m T35 category on Friday.
Nishad, 24, on the other hand, cleared 2.04 meters to win India’s third para-athletics medal and seventh overall.
Preethi is only the second Indian woman to win two medals in a single Paralympics, after Avani Lekhara’s gold and bronze in Tokyo three years ago.
In the women’s 200m T35 final, China’s Zhou Xia won gold with 28.15 seconds, followed by Guo Qianqian with 29.09 seconds for silver. The T35 classification is for athletes with coordination impairments like hypertonia, ataxia, and athetosis.
Nishad faced a tough competition in the high jump event against world record holder and champion Townsend Roderick of the USA, who won gold with 2.12 meters.
Margiev Georgii, representing Neutral Paralympic Athlete, was third with 2 meters.
Ram Pal, another Indian in the competition, secured seventh place with a personal best of 1.95 meters. The T47 category includes competitors with below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment.
Preethi, a farmer’s daughter from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, captured India’s first track medal in a Paralympics track event on Friday with her 100m T35 bronze clocking 14.21 seconds. Her journey to Paralympic success is remarkable, overcoming weak legs and irregular leg posture since birth. She wore calipers for eight years from the age of five and underwent traditional treatments to strengthen her legs. At 17, her life started to change when she watched the Paralympic Games on social media and met Paralympic athlete Fatima Khatoon, who introduced her to para-athletics.
Nishad’s determination has defined his career. He lost his right hand in a grass-cutting machine accident at the age of six. Inspired by his mother, a state-level volleyball player and discus thrower, Nishad pursued sports passionately, starting with wrestling and athletics before focusing on javelin throw.
In 2017, he received professional coaching and won gold at the Asian Youth Para Games. His success continued with a gold at last year’s Asian Para Games and a silver medal at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championship in Japan.
On Friday, Ravi Rongali finished fifth in the men’s F40 shot put final. He produced a personal best of 10.63 meters but found the competition tough in a top-class field.
World record holder Miguel Montero of Portugal took gold with a throw of 11.21 meters. Mongolia’s Battulga Tsegmid claimed silver with 11.09 meters.
Reigning Asian Para Games champion Garrah Tnaiash of Iraq earned bronze with 11.03 meters. Denis Gnezdilov, the Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist, finished fourth with 10.80 meters.
Rakshita Raju, 23, bowed out in the opening round heats of the women’s 1500m T11 race, finishing last in her heat with 5:29.92 seconds.
China’s Shanshan He topped the heat with 4:44.66 seconds, closely followed by South Africa’s Louzanne Coetzee with a season-best timing of 4:45.25 seconds. The T11 category caters to athletes with severe visual impairment, often running with guides.
Shuttlers Suhas, Murugesan assure badminton medals
Suhas Yathiraj positioned himself for unprecedented glory by reaching the summit clash for a second consecutive time Paralympic medals in the men’s singles SL4 event.
Tokyo Games silver medallist Suhas displayed exceptional skill by defeating teammate Sukant Kadam 21-17, 21-12 in straight games.
The 41-year-old Suhas, who is also a 2007 batch IAS officer, thus advanced to his second consecutive final at the global stage.
Nitesh Kumar similarly guaranteed a medal by clinching a 21-16, 21-12 win against Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara in the SL3 semifinal.
In the all-Indian women’s singles SU5 semifinal, Thulasimathi Murugesan beat compatriot Manisha Ramadass 23-21, 21-17 to assure India at least another silver. Manisha will now fight for bronze.
However, there were setbacks for India as well. In the SL3 category, Mandeep Kaur was eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing to Nigeria’s third seed Bolaji Mariam Eniola, with scores of 8-21, 9-21.
The SL4 category saw another close contest where para world championship bronze medallist Palak Kohli fell short against Indonesia’s Khalimatus Sadiyah, losing 19-21, 15-21 in 28 minutes.
In SL3 category, players with severe lower-limb disability compete on a half-width court, whereas in SL4, athletes compete while standing with less severe impairments than those in the SL3 category.
Mandeep Kaur and Palak Kohli’s tough quarterfinal losses highlighted the challenges faced, yet the triumphs of Suhas, Nitesh, and Manisha mark significant achievements for Indian para-badminton.
No success in shooting range
After securing four medals in two days, India had a disappointing outing in shooting events on Sunday with Avani Lekhara failing to qualify for the finals, ending 11th in the mixed 10m air rifle prone (SH1) qualification.
Sidhartha Babu also missed the mark, finishing 28th.
Avani, coming off her gold medal win in the 10m air rifle standing SH1 event, completed the qualification round with a total score of 632.8. Her sequence of scores was 105.7, 106.0, 104.1, 106.0, 104.8, and 106.2.
Sidhartha Babu, on the other hand, recorded scores of 104.6, 103.8, 105.7, 104.9, 103.6, and 105.7, aggregating to 628.3 across six series.
In the SH1 category, athletes are able to hold their gun without support and shoot from either a standing or sitting position. Sidhartha contributed his scores in this classification. Devaraddi, competing in the SH2 category where athletes use a stand to hold their rifle, scored 105.2 in Series 1, improved to 105.7 in the next, followed by scores of 105.4, 104.3, 105.6, and 104.0, totaling 630.2 points.
Only the top eight from qualification progress to the final as per the competition rules.