Asian Para Games 2026: Ayush Verma Wins Shot Put Gold as India’s Medal Tally Reaches 38

The Indian para-athlete, Ayush Verma bagged the gold medal in the men’s shot put F53 category at the Asian Para Games 2026 held in Nagoya, Japan on 21st October. The throw distance of 8.16 meters on the fifth try of Ayush contributed towards making India’s total number of gold medals to ten and the total count of medals to 38 as per the provided report. Ayush also won the bronze medal in the men’s javelin F53/54 event. The para-badminton player Suhas Yathiraj made it to the semi-finals and assured India’s other medal.

Ayush Verma Bags Gold in Men’s Shot Put F53 Event

Ayush Verma won the gold medal by achieving the throw distance of total 8.16 meters on his fifth attempt in the seated throwing competition. He emerged victorious against the silver medalist Alireza Hemami from Iran, whose throw distance was 8.09 meters, and bronze medalist Makhambet Serikkaliyev from Kazakhstan, whose throw distance was 6.81 meters.

It is the second medal that Ayush Verma won at the games. Earlier, he had won the bronze medal in the men’s javelin F53/54 event.

Men’s Shot Put F53: Medals

What Does the F53 Class Mean in Paralympic Sports?

The F53 class represents a classification of paralympic sports involving a high degree of difficulty in movements of the trunk and legs, but with a relatively lesser disability of the hands.

The competition takes place in a seated position, with throwing power coming from the use of trunk, shoulder, and upper body movements.

This classification ensures that paralympians compete within classes based on their specific impairment. The letter F is an abbreviation for field event classification, which includes such events as shot put, discus, and javelin.

Suhas Yathiraj Qualifies for Para-Badminton Semifinals

Para-badminton player of India, Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, qualified for the men’s singles SL4 semi-finals after beating N. Cho from South Korea in two games by scores of 21-12, 21-16.

His qualification for the semi-finals ensured that India wins a minimum bronze medal according to the medal system of the tournament. Being a Paralympic medal winner, Suhas continued the quest of India in para-badminton.

However, other players from India had different fortunes,

• Sukant Kadam lost to Fredy Setiawan from Indonesia in the SL4 quarterfinals with scores of 17-21, 21-18, 15-21.
• Prem Kumar Ale lost to Haeseong Park from South Korea in the men’s singles WH1 quarterfinals with scores of 13-21, 12-21.
• Pallavi Kaluvehalli lost her match in the women’s singles WH1 with scores of 4-21, 4-21 to Sena Tomoyose from Japan.