Asian Para Games: Kapil Parmar bounces back from semifinal defeat to win bronze

Kapil Parmar

India’s Kapil Parmar clinched the bronze medal in the men’s J1 -70kg event at the Asian Para Games after defeating Indonesia’s Rafli Ahnaf Shidqi by ippon in just one minute and nine seconds on Monday.The Paris Paralympics bronze medallist secured India’s third medal on the opening day of the competition, adding another podium finish to his international career.Kapil had earlier booked his place in the semifinals with a victory over Mongolia’s Bat-erdene Baatarsuren in four minutes and 53 seconds. However, he lost to Indonesia’s Junaedi by ippon in the last four before bouncing back to win the bronze-medal bout.Earlier in the day, visually impaired judoka Kokila assured India of its first medal after defeating China’s Yi Liu 1-0 in the women’s J2 -52kg semifinals. Kokila, who won bronze in the -48kg category at the previous edition in Hangzhou, registered one waza-ari and one yuko against her Chinese opponent, who managed one waza-ari. She will now compete in the final.

India then secured a one-two finish in the women’s 10m air rifle (SH1) event, with Mona Agarwal winning gold and Avani Lekhara taking silver.

Mona, a bronze medallist at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, staged a stirring comeback in the final to set an Asian Para Games record of 250.0 points. She edged compatriot Avani, the defending champion and a two-time Paralympic gold medallist, by 0.4 points, with Avani finishing on 249.6.Mona’s gold also secured India a second quota place for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. She had already earned one quota place at the WSPS World Championships in Changwon, South Korea, last month, where she won silver.