Paralympics: Praveen Kumar clinches silver in high jump

Bengaluru, September 3: India have increased their medals tally to 11 at Paralympics 2020 in Tokyo after Praveen Kumar clinched a silver in the men's high jump T64 category with a new Asian Record of 2.07M, which was incidentally his personal best as well.

Great Britain's Jonathan Broom-Edwards won the gold with an effort of 2.10M while Poland's Maciej Lepiato settled for bronze with a leap of 2.04M.

Though Jonathan raised the bar and tried for 2.13, he failed, but that mattered little as the yellow metal was already in his bag.

A golden jump for silver.

Heartiest congratulations to #PraveenKumar for winning #silver medal in Men's #HighJump (T64).

It was his personal best performance and also an ‘Asian Record’

Entire nation is elated on his success. #ParalympicsTokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/hg3kx4PuWo

— Y. Satya Kumar (@satyakumar_y) September 3, 2021

After two barren days, India re-opened its medal count and the country has now won, two gold, five silver and four bronze medals.

The medals tally is expected to swell further with events in shooting, archery athletics lined up.

Earlier, India's Prachi Yadav, who made it to the Canoe Sprint Women's Va'a Single 200m VL2 Final, had to settle for an eighth-place finish.

Prachi was the first para athlete from India to compete in canoeing in Paralympics.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Praveen on Twitter.

"Proud of Praveen Kumar for winning the Silver medal at the #Paralympics. This medal is the result of his hard work and unparalleled dedication. Congratulations to him. Best wishes for his future endeavours. #Praise4Para

Proud of Praveen Kumar for winning the Silver medal at the #Paralympics. This medal is the result of his hard work and unparalleled dedication. Congratulations to him. Best wishes for his future endeavours. #Praise4Para

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 3, 2021

The 18-year-old Praveen was making his debut at Paralympics.

T64 classification is for athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics in a standing position.

T44, the disability classification that Praveen has but is eligible to compete in T64, is for athletes with a leg deficiency, leg length difference, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in the legs.

His impairment, which is congenital, affects the bones that connect his hip to his left leg.

The 2020 Paralympic Games, which was rescheduled to this year, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic will conclude on Sunday (September 5) and so far it has turned out to be India's best ever.

The country has already doubled its tally from what it had achieved at Rio five years back and is eyeing more medals in the coming days.

Just like the Summer Olympics which concluded last month in Tokyo, the Paralympics too is being held without spectators as per the COVID-19 health guidelines and protocols.