After Bhavina Patel created history at Tokyo Paralympics, Nishad Kumar and Vinod Kumar won a Silver and a Bronze respectively, taking India’s overall tally to three. Both athletes also set new Asian records in their competitions.
Nishad Kumar won Silver in Men’s High Jump T46, creating a new Asian record of 2.06m. Vinod Kumar won Bronze for India in Men’s Discus Throw with a throw of 19.91m in F52 final.
Earlier Bhavina had won Silver in table tennis after she lost to China’s Ying Zhou 7-11, 5-11, 6-11.
Reacting to the new success of Nishad and Vinod, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “More joyful news comes from Tokyo! Absolutely delighted that Nishad Kumar wins the Silver medal in Men’s High Jump T47. He is a remarkable athlete with outstanding skills and tenacity. Congratulations to him.”
His subsequent tweet read, “India is rejoicing thanks to Vinod Kumar’s stupendous performance! Congratulations to him for the Bronze Medal. His hard work and determination is yielding outstanding results.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Another #Silver for India on National Sports Day. Congratulations to Nishad Kumar for the stellar performance. You’ve done our country proud.”
He added, “Big day for sports in India- Vinod Kumar wins #Bronze in Men’s Discus Throw F52 setting a new Asian record. Congratulations! The whole country joins you in celebrating this achievement.”
Former India cricketer Sachin Tendulkar tweeted, “The AMAZING jump & the WOW throw! @nishad_hj & Vinod Kumar, congratulations on winning #Silver in the men’s high jump & #Bronze in the men’s discus throw events respectively.” Inspirational!”
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer wrote, “An Olympic medal at 41! And a new Asian record too. Vinod Kumar, you sir are an inspiration to everyone???????? Congratulations.”
This is turning out to be the best-ever Paralympic Games for India within three medals coming so early in the competition. The fact these all three medals came on the day Indians were marking their National Sports Day made the feat even more special.