Para Asian Games: Prachi Yadav claims India's first medal, secures silver in canoeing
Oct 23, 2023
Hangzhou [China], October 23 : Athlete Prachi Yadav clinched a silver medal in canoeing in the women's VL2 Final and opened India's account in the ongoing 4th Asian Games on Monday at Hangzhou.
Prachi gave Uzbekistan's Irodakhon Rustamova a run for her money as both athletes were separated by a timing of 1.022s. Prachi secured a silver medal finish by clocking 1:03.47s while Irodakhon claimed the gold medal with a timing of 1:02.125s. Japan's Saki Komatsu walked away with a bronze medal with a timing of 1:11.635s.
On the other hand, in the women's VL3 final India missed out on the opportunity to secure a medal as Sangeeta Rajput, Shabana and Rajni Jha finished fourth, fifth and seventh respectively.
Uzbekistan's Shakhzoda Mamadalieva claimed the gold medal by clocking 58.775s, and China's Yongyuan walked away with a silver medal with a timing of 59.724s. Kazakhstan's Zhanyl Baltabayeva secured a bronze medal finish with 1:07.795s
India will be hoping to surpass their best performance of 72 medals at the 2018 event in Indonesia, consisting of 15 gold, 24 silver and 33 bronze medals.
The historic performance by the Indian contingent of winning 107 medals at the just concluded Asian Games has fuelled the athletes, coaches and support staff with a belief that the 4th Asian Para Games will break many records and will be the most successful one in the history of Para Games in the country.
