Jaimin Bhatt
At the World Para Athletics Championships in Delhi on Monday, the highlight for India was clearly expected to be the F46 javelin finals for men. India had three in contention — Rinku Hooda, Ajeet Singh Yadav and Sunder Singh Gurjar. Two of these three had always figured on the podium at the World Para Athletic Championships in Paris in 2023, Paris Paralympic Games in 2024 and World Para Athletic Championships in 2024 at Kobe, Japan. All three were in medal contention.
Crowd expectations had clearly built up with hopes of a clean sweep by India on home ground. Suddenly, the stadium which has not seen many spectators, had come alive at least in the area where the javelin event was held. It was a festive atmosphere there. Standing between the Indians were Cuban Guillermo Verona (who had won the gold at the Paralympics and in Kobe) and Mexican Elizer Gabriel.
The Indian trio did well to always be among the top two, although the names kept changing. Ajeet did well with his second throw of 61.77m to go into the lead but Rinku came up with 61.98m immediately. In the third round, the Cuban got 63.34m but Sunder went in the lead with a throw of 64.11m. Rinku’s fourth throw of 66.37m was good to give him the gold, while Sunder came up with 64.76 in his penultimate throw to take the second spot. Ajeet had to settle for fourth.
The crowd was ecstatic in celebrating the 1-2 for India. While it was great to see that, the 60,000-plus capacity JLN was hardly filled during the day. This was a pity. At the Kobe World Para Athletics Championships, we had ranked a very credible No. 6 with 17 medals. This is among the biggest para event one can get, other than the Paralympics. The organisers and the local population of Delhi can do much better.
On the other hand, it was so good to see players, past and present, being there every time an Indian athlete was competing and cheering them.
Other than the crowd, the event has come out very well. The newly-laid Mondo track is impressive. The facilities and the organisation have been of top order and the Paralympic Committee of India has certainly shown that we can host such mega events.
The Paralympic Committee of India president, Devendra Jhajharia, has set a target of 20 medals for the event. For the Paris Paralympics, he had given a target of 25 and India got 29 (17 of them from athletics). This time too, there is a decent chance of India surpassing the target.
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