Tokyo Paralympics day 7 as it happened: Two medals in high jump, pistol bronze for Singhraj

Schedule courtesy Sports Authority of India

An amazing frame: Not an easy night to perform. Not been an easy week in Tokyo, given he was supposed to be the flagbearer had to isolate. But at the end of it all, Mariyappan Thangavelu is a two-time medallist coming inches away from getting the gold again. Superb.

Tokyo Paralympics: Meet Singhraj Adhana, who built own range during lockdown and won a medal at 39

Press conference: Sharad Kumar had said earlier that the rain made it really difficult to balance for the jumps, to add he had an injury last night and was crying non-stop. Super effort to get the bronze today. Mariyappan Thangavelu says while he is happy to win silver, a bit disappointed to miss out on gold. He was confident of clearing 1.90 today but the rain got heavier & given he wears socks on his right it got wet, and the softness affected his takeoff. Mariyappan, who had to train in isolation after the Covid close contact, wants to go for gold in Paris. Coach Satyanarayana (who was confident of it today as he clears 2.00 in training) says the same. Quotes via press conference set up by Eurosport IN.

Sharad Kumar, bronze medallist says he had to battle a meniscus injury last night and was in all sorts of pain: “I was crying all night because of an injury. I was worried I would not even participate today.”

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Sam Grewe was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that led to his leg being amputated. Earlier this year, he enrolled in medical school to become a doctor himself. He tweeted this letter he received earlier today: “This makes it all worth it” Now he is a gold medallist at the Paralympics to go with silver from Rio.

Read more about him here.

MEDALS CONFIRMED: No 9 and No 10... Sharad Kumar with bronze and Mariyappan Thangavelu with silver medal!

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: No world record for Grew but a gold medal to remember for the American.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Sam Grewe, gold medal sealed, is going for the world record. His own mark is 1.90 and he has set the mark at 1.91 now. Can he do it? (His is such a great story by the way, more on that shortly!)

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Mariyappan went close a couple of times for 1.88m but three attempts done and he will finish with a best of 1.86m. Over to Grewe now... can he clear the third attempt? He can! He takes the gold, silver for Mariyappan.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: 1.88 is where the bar at.

Both Mariyappan and Sam Grewe miss their first two attempts. Mariyappan was actually very close with the 2nd attempt! Here we go then... for the third try.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: 1.86, third attempts. BRONZE FOR SHARAD!

Mariyappan with the final attempt at this height... and he clears! Brilliant. Don’t see much emotion from him, but he enjoyed that one. Sam Grewe goes clear too! He points at the camera in celebration. Sharad misses, and he will finish with a bronze. A superb effort from him though, even if he is disappointed at the moment!

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: 1.86. Second attempts.

Mariyappan: A miss.

Grewe: A miss.

Sharad: A miss, he didn’t get quite even close to clearing that. Walks away with a wry smile.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Right then... 1.86.

Mariyappan: First-time failure, his first miss of the night.

Grewe: First-time failure, his 2nd of the night.

Sharad: First-time failure, his first miss of the night.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Ezra Frech can’t believe it! He will finish the night with a PB but it is outside medal spots... the Polish athlete next. He misses too! And that is two medals confirmed for India once again in this event, just as in Rio.

Men’s High Jump - T63: 1.83m then.

Mariyappan, first-time clearance. Fairly easily done too! Steps away with a bit of a swagger.

Grewe: Just about a first-time clearance, even he is surprised the bar stayed put! Definitely touched it, but that’s how it goes.

Sharad: First-time clearance too! He is pumped.

The other two athletes have missed two attempts at 1.83 and if they don’t clear their third, two medals confirmed for India.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Heartbreak for Rio 2016 bronze medallist. Varun Bhati shakes his head as he misses a third attempt at 1.80 and his event is over. We are now down to the final athletes... bar set at 1.83m. Two Indians left.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Varun has missed his first two attempts at 1.80m. He looks frustrated. Needs to go again here. Big jump coming up!

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: That’s better, much better. All three Indians clear 1.77m at the first attempt. So do Ezra and Grewe (you’d think the five of those would make up the podium...)

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Phew, after two failed attempts, Varun Bhati finally goes clear at 1.73m. The bar is now being raised to 1.77m.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Damn it is getting tricky for Varun, misses his second attempt for 1.73 as well. Grewe did clear in the second attempt.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63 Sam Grewe missed the first attempt at 1.73! Wonder what happened there. Sure, he can go on and clear the best height of the night and take gold but that is not an ideal start for the favourite.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Varun Bhati doesn’t clear 1.73m at the first go, not too much of an issue with two more attempts left but in an event that could be very close, that might hurt in the end. If he gets that far.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Mariyappan and Sharad Kumar both get first time clearances at 1.73m. Important to not mess up here in case of count-back at the end for a tiebreaker. Good solid stuff.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: First-time clearance for Varun at 1.69m. Nice warm-up. Five athletes have cleared that height and three did not attempt. Now we move to 1.73 and should see all competitors chime in. Ezra French has set the pace with a first-time clearance.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: =Varun Singh Bhati will be the first Indian to attempt a jump. He will start with 1.69m. (Currently there is no telecast, hopefully that will change soon towards the back-end of this event)

Relevant sport classification for Men’s High Jump - T63 (with T42):

LIMB DEFICIENCIES - SPORT CLASSES: T42/F42 - T46/F46, T47; T/F61-64 These sport classes are designated for athletes with limb deficiencies, such as amputations or missing or shortened limbs from birth. All athletes in the 40s classes compete standing and do not use a wheelchair. In the sport classes 42-44 the legs are affected by the impairment and in the sport classes 45-47 the arms are affected, for example by above or below elbow amputations. Athletes with a leg deficiency who compete with a prosthesis are competing in classes T/F61- 64. For example, a shot putter with leg length difference competes in sport class F42. A shot putter with a single above knee amputation wearing a prosthesis competes in sport class F63.

— via Paralympic.org

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63: Here’s how the event finished in Rio 2016 (it was a T42 then, T42 athletes are present in this one as well). Was a fun event to watch.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63, FINAL: All three Indians should be in the mix as they all were in Rio 2016. Sam Grewe is the WR holder. Could get very exciting at the back-end. They will all start at later heights, no reason to go for the early clearances.

Athletics Men’s High Jump - T63, FINAL: Here’s the start-list for the event.

High jump: Mariyappan Thangavelu will soon be in action in his event. The Rio 2016 gold medallist has his eyes on the podium once again.

Paralympics: Meet Mariyappan Thangavelu, Rio 2016 gold medallist & a medal contender at Tokyo 2020

Next up for India: The Men’s High Jump T63 at 3.50 pm IST. Mariyappan Thangavelu, Sharad Kumar and Varun Singh Bhati are all in the fray.

Afghan presence: When Afghan Paralympian Hossain Rasouli stepped onto the Tokyo track today after escaping Taliban-held Kabul, fellow long jumper Roderick Townsend didn’t feel rivalry but “joy”.

The American did not even know Rasouli was competing in the men’s T47 long jump final until he saw 13 names on the start list rather than the usual 12.

Rasouli had arrived in Tokyo last Saturday, too late to compete in his favoured T47 100m event, after catching a top-secret flight from Paris one week after being evacuated from Kabul.

So instead he entered the long jump final, finishing last but symbolising for Townsend “so much about the Paralympic Games and what it means and what it stands for”.

“With everything going on right now, I couldn’t help but feel joy for him,” said Townsend, who took silver in the event with a jump of 7.43m.

Archery: “Armless archer” Matt Stutzman said he would not be giving up on his quest for an elusive Paralympics gold medal after being knocked out in the last 16 for the second Games in a row Tuesday.

“I’m not quitting,” said the London 2012 silver medallist after losing 143-137 to Slovakia’s Marcel Pavlik in the men’s individual compound open archery category.

“I’m going to be back in Paris (2024) and my ultimate goal is to represent the United States in LA (2028), that will be my last Games,” added American Stutzman, who also fell at the same stage in Rio five years ago.

The 2015 world champion, who was born with no arms and holds the bow with his foot, has an @ArmlessArcher Twitter handle where his profile declares proudly “I do everything with my feet”.

But the usually ebullient Stutzman cut a bitterly disappointed figure after a second successive early exit at the Paralympics and one of his “worst scores in five years”.

MEDAL COUNT: With 8 medals so far at Tokyo 2020, Indian have doubled their previous best medal tally at one edition of the Paralympics (4 in 2016 and 4 in 1984)

REPORT: Tokyo Paralympics, shooting: India’s Singhraj wins bronze in men’s 10m air pistol SH1

A word of appreciation for young Manish Narwal as well. The teenager topped the qualification and finished 7th in final. And he has one event in left.

MEDAL NO 8 FOR INDIA AT TOKYO PARALYMPICS: And like Rio, the Paralympics medal count has exceeded the Olympics medal count once again.

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Chao Yang defends his 2016 title, breaking the Paralympic Record he set back then as China make it a 1-2.

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: BRONZE MEDAL IT IS. Oh wow, with the 19th shot Singhraj was out of the medal position and with the 20th shot he got into the top three as Lou shot a 8.6. By the barest of margins, it is another medal confirmed for INDIA. Phew.

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: MEDAL CONFIRMED! Oh what a turnaround that. CHN LOU Xiaolong shoots a 8.6 with his 20th shot and that takes Singhraj back into the top 3!!!!

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Oh dear! 9.1 from Singhraj for the *19th shot and he is looking at a 4th place finish.

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Recovery from Singhraj! After 18 shots, he moves up to 3rd as the the 3rd Chinese shooter scores a low series. We are down to the final 4!

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Singhraj remains in the top three of the table... oh well, scratch that! 13th shot 9.4, 14th shot 9.7, 15th shot 10.4 and 16th shot is 8.7... and he has moved into 4th spot! Sigh. China in the top three.

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Unfortunate for Manish Narwal, the teenager who topped the qualification, the event is over in the final as he becomes the second to be eliminated. Bit of a Saurabh Chaudhary feel to this one. Hope he can bounce back! He has one more event in Tokyo.

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Elimination rounds begin... Manish might avoid the first axe but needs a really good series to push up... but shoots 9.5 & 9.3. Singhraj remains in the top 3 for now.

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Oh no, Manish was recovering so well after a poor first 5 shots and then scored a 8.9 of the final shot and he is precariously placed at 6th after the first 10 shots. Singhraj more solid throughout, 99.6 for the first 10 and is placed 2nd. The defending champ leading with 100.3

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1: Singhraj has started the better of the two Indians, placed in the top 3 during the first 10 shots. Narwal however shot a 8.7 with his 4th shot and is already playing catch up from the bottom. This sport can punish one poor second more than any other.

Correction to the previous updates, this is actually P1 not P2.

Shooting P2 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1: Right then, off we go. Here’s a look at the competition format, if you are unfamiliar. First 10 shots are the competition stage... then comes elimination after every two shots.

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1: Final 11 am IST. Worth noting that it is the fourth event featuring Indians in the shooting schedule and we have had finalists in all four of them! That is quite a nice record.

As we wait for the shooting final at 1100 IST... here’s some suggested reading for you from what was a super day for India.

Devendra Jhajharia has his moment in the sun

Meet shooter Avani Lekhara, the first Indian woman to win a Paralympics gold

Meet Sumit Antil, wrestler-turned-javelin thrower who never gave up on his dreams

Women’s Shot Put - F34: Bhagyashri Jadhav registered a PB of 7.00. But when three athletes went past her mark, she slid out of medal positions She finishes 7th but a PB is always a solid effort. Bronze mark was 8.21m

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1: Final coming up at 11 am IST. Featuring Manish Narwal and Singhraj

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: TWO INDIANS THROUGH TO FINAL! Manish Narwal finishes with the best score among all the shooters and the 19-year-old can take that confidence (but not much else) into the final. Singhraj finishes 6th. But that 88 from Deepender means he is 10th. Even a 92 in that round would have put three Indians in the final!

Manish Narwal: 96, 95, 92, 98, 97, 97

Singhraj: 95, 97, 93, 95, 92, 97

Deepender Singh: 96, 93, 96, 88, 92, 95

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: Manish is topping the charts at the moment, Singhraj is making a strong finish while Deepender is making a late charge (but that 88 is going to hurt him)

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: Nicely done by Manish Narwal to finish with 575 after a series of 92 in the middle there. Superb recovery and he should be in the top 8 comfortably. For Deepender, a series of 88 has proved very costly. Singhraj has a 92 in the third series and is in need of a strong finish to hold on to his 7th spot

Manish Narwal: 96, 95, 92, 98, 97, 97

Singhraj: 95, 97, 93, 95, 92

Deepender Singh: 96, 93, 96, 88

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: As we enter the final stages, there is good news and not-so-good news. Deepender has slid out of the top 8 but Manish Narwal is at the top of the standings. Singhraj remains 7th.

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: The Indian shooters in positions 3, 7 and 8 at the moment. Narwal is almost done with his shots.

Manish Narwal: 96, 95, 92, 98, 97

Singhraj: 95, 97, 93, 95

Deepender Singh: 96, 93, 96

Shooting P1 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: This is looking really good for Manish Narwal as he shoots a super 97 to follow a super 98. Currently in the top 3. Singhraj is still in the 4th series but seems to be in a dicey situation. Deepender with a 96 in third series has slipped down to 8th.

Manish Narwal: 96, 95, 92, 98, 97

Deepender Singh: 96, 93, 96

Singhraj: 95, 97, 93

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: Could still change but this is looking rather nice for India at this instance.

Shooting P2 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: We are getting towards the business end of the qualification event here and as I type this all three Indians are in the top 8!

Deepender Singh: 96, 93

Manish Narwal: 96, 95, 92, 98

Singhraj: 95, 97, 93

Confirmation of the table tennis score: A little while earlier, India’s table tennis campaign came to a close after a 2-0 defeat in the team event (Class 4-5) against the top seeds China. Bhavina lost the singles tie against Zhou.

Shooting, Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1: Iran’s Sareh Javanmardi wins the gold medal with a WR score of 239.2.

Shooting P2 – Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification A good start for Manish Narwal as he shoots 96 and 95 in his first two series, Singhraj begins with 95 while Deepender Singh has a 96 in his first series.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: Correction to the previous shooting update, Rubina Francis was in fact eliminated in the 7th place after 14 shots in the final. Like we said, that 6.6 was just too poor a shot to recover from. A 7th place in the event it is for then.

Archery, men’s compound open quarterfinal: Ah, that’s the end of Rakesh Kumar’s individual event! The third seed shoots a solid 143 out of *150 but China’s Ai Xinliang shoots a superb 145 to win. Compound matches are indeed high-scoring but this was very high quality as neither archer shot a 9!

Archery, men’s compound open quarterfinal: A 28 from Rakesh in the 4th end but China’s Ai has shot 29! And that is a tough lead to overcome for Rakesh with 3 arrows remaining.

Archery, men’s compound open quarterfinal: A third end of 29 from Rakesh helps his reduce the deficit to one point at 86-87 as CHN score 28. TENSE.

Archery, men’s compound open quarterfinal: A 28 for Rakesh Kumar in the 2nd end and a 29 from China’s Ai. 59-57 in favour of China. Rakesh needs another comeback here.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: At the end of 12 shots, Rubina is placed 7th. But needs something extraordinary to stay in this event longer.

Table Tennis, women’s team class 4-5 quarterfinal, IND 0-2 CHN: Meanwhile, the women’s team event campaign is over for India in table tennis.

Archery, men’s compound open quarterfinal: Wow, what a start. Rakesh Kumar with a 29 but China’s Ai XinLiang with a 30!

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: All Rubina can do now is to avoid one elimination after another if she can. Let’s see.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 FINAL: OH NO! A 6.6 in the first series of shots from Rubina and that is going to be so, so tough to recover from...

Table Tennis, women’s team class 4-5 quarterfinal, IND 0-1 CHN, match 2: The singles tie is also heading firmly in China’s favour. 11-4, 11-7 to the world No 1 against Bhavina

Shooting P1 - Men’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: There are 3 Indian men in action here but it is going to be impossible to track it live!!! So we will have updates shortly. Focus turns to archery and shooting.

Table Tennis, women’s team class 4-5 quarterfinal: Doubles match is over in double quick time. Coming up next, the rematch between Bhavina Patel and Zhou Ying, the final of the singles class 4 event

Table Tennis, women’s team class 4-5 quarterfinal: Second game goes to China as well.

BIG EVENTS COMING UP: India’s Rubina Francis holds the WR for the final scores in women’s 10m air pistol SH1. She shot 238.1 at Lima (Peru) in June 2021. Her final begins at 8:30. And at 8.34, there is Rakesh Kumar’s compound archery quarterfinal against China

Table Tennis, women’s team class 4-5 quarterfinal: China’s team, which is comprised of the world No 1 from Class 4 and world No 1 from Class 5, have taken the first game of the doubles match 11-2.

Table Tennis, women’s team class 4-5 quarterfinal: coming up. Singles silver medallist Bhavina Patel will team up with Sonal Patel as India take on top seeds China. Women’s team event combines sports classes (athletes will be combined from across categories within wheel chair and standing events). So this is class 4-5. The winner will be assured a medal. Bhavina Patel (class 4) / Sonal Patel (class 3, because India don’t have a class 5 player) vs Zhou Ying (world No1, class 4) / Bian Zhang (world No1, class 5). Doubles first.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: Right, after all the updates from archery and athletics, it is now time to catch up on shooting. RUBINA FRANCIS IS THROUGH TO THE FINAL! She was in the top 3 for a while but a few more 9s than 10s in the final stages but the 2nd and 3rd series made sure she will finish in the top 8 and that’s all that matters. She finished 7th to move into the final. The shooters continue to do well in qualification.

Rubina’s series: 91, 96, 95, 92, 93, 93

Archery, men’s compound open round of 16: And the comeback is complete! From 26-28 and 53-55, it is a superb turnaround by Rakesh Kumar as he wins 140-137. Helped by a couple of 8s from Marecak in the third end but the Indian’s perfect 4th end made it comfortable in the end.

Archery, men’s compound open round of 16: BOOM! X-X-10! Terrific from Rakesh Kumar. He has a three-point lead going into the final end.

Archery, men’s compound open round of 16: From a 2-point deficit to a 1-point lead! Soild 28 from the third end by Rakesh Kumar. That’s what we have been seeing on scoreboard more often. 6 more arrows left. If he keeps this up, he should be good to progress. Crunch time.

Archery, men’s compound open round of 16: A 8 with a first arrow of the match has pegged Rakesh Kumar back in this match in the early stages. The second end is tied 27-27 each. After 6 arrows, he trails 53-55. Reminder, compound is cumulative scoring. He needs a strong second half here.

Archery, men’s compound open round of 16: Time for Rakesh Kumar (3rd seed) in this crucial match. He has been in fine form in Tokyo. Can he continue that today? Up against Marian Marecak (SVK).

Athletics, Women’s Shot Put - F34: PERSONAL BEST FOR Bhagyashri Jadhav! She starts with a 5.87 but builds up progressively and her 4th attempt is a new PB, while her last attempt betters that with a 7.00. She came into this with 6.18m as the best. Of course, she can now only wait till the rest of the field is done.

Athletics ,Women’s 100m - T13: Women’s 100m T13 heat 2: Simran finishes with a time of 12.69 and 5th in the heat. Fairly close to her PB of 12.58. She won’t be progressing to the final.

Athletics ,Women’s 100m - T13: Coming up shortly is Simran in women’s 100m. She is the only runner in the Indian athletics contingent here in Tokyo 2020. First 2 in the heat progress automatically. The class T13 stands for vision impairment.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: A fourth series of 92 keeps Rubina in the top 8 but that was not the most ideal series. A 8 to start and then a streak of 9s. She has 10 more shots to keep her position in the top 8. Needs to keep it steady now.

Rubina’s series: 91, 96, 95, 92

Bhagyashri Jadhav, women’s Shot Put - F34: 

CO-ORDINATION IMPAIRMENTS - SPORT CLASSES F31, T32/F32-T38/F38 The 30s sport classes are allocated to athletes with involuntary movements, uncoordinated movements and/or muscle tension – often conditions associated with cerebral palsy or traumatic brain injury. The impairments typically affect the ability to control legs, trunk, arms and/or hand function. You will see athletes in the sport classes 31-34 compete in a seated position, e.g. in wheelchair racing or using a throwing chair. By contrast, athletes in the sport classes 35-38 show a better function in their legs and better trunk control and therefore compete standing, e.g. in running events, long jump or throwing events.

Athletics, Women’s Shot Put - F34: As has historically been the case, track & field has been good for India at the Paralympics. Today’s first event at the Olympic Stadium is seated shot put. Bhagyashri Jadhav in action. She will be the first to throw.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: Rubina with another solid series of 95. A few 9s in the second half threatened to pull her down a bit but she finishes strong with a 10. She is in third position. Top eight go through to the final.

Rubina’s series: 91, 96, 95

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: Super second series for Francis and she is into the top 8 with a 96.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: Rubina has started with a less than ideal first round. Two 10s in the first series of 10 shots is not how she would have liked to started.

Rubina’s series: 91

Sports classification: In shooting, there are three different sport classes for Paralympic disciplines (pistol, rifle). These sport classes are specific to the event the athlete competes in – either pistol or rifle events. In Pistol SH1 class athletes can support the full weight of the pistol themselves. As the pistol is held with one hand only, athletes in this sport class have an impairment affecting one arm and/or the legs, for example resulting from amputations or spinal cord injuries. Some shooters compete in a seated position, while others will compete in a standing position as defined in the sport rules.

Shooting P2 - Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1 Qualification: First up today, is some para shooting action. The 22-year-old from Jabalpur is a pistol shooter and she will look to finish in the top 8 to reach the final among 18 shooters.

06.00 am: Hello all and welcome to another day for India at the Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 that promises to be eventful. Monday, 30 August, will go down in history as the single greatest day in the history of Paralympics for India as the tally for Rio 2016 was crossed in the space of a few hours. It promised to be a special day, it turned out to be just so. And when you think about the fact there were two fourth-placed finishes that were so close to being two medals, it boggles the mind.

But that is in the past and we now look forward to Tuesday. Three “previous” Paralympic medallists are in action. Mariyappan Thangavelu and Varun Bhati in high jump, Bhavina Patel in (tough) team event. Watch out for Rakesh Kumar in archery too... can he continue his impressive form and take a spot in the podium? But the day starts with Rubina Francis in shooting.