Asian Para Games: Indian athletes sweep podium in men's club throw F51

India swept the podium in the men's club throw F51 event at the Asian Para Games with Pranav Soorma winning the gold on the opening day of the athletics competition on Monday.

The 29-year-old para-athlete broke the Asian Para Games record with a throw of 30.01m to clinch the gold ahead of his compatriots Dharambir (28.76m) and Amit Kumar (26.93m) who clinched silver and bronze medals.

In the field of only four competitors, Saudi Arabia's Radhi Ali Alharthi finished last with a throw of 23.77m.

Soorma suffered a spinal cord injury after an accident when he was 16-years-old and that left him paralyzed. But that did not deter him from taking up para-sports, and he won a silver medal at the 2019 Beijing World Para Athletics Grand Prix event.

The F51 club throw event is for athletes who have movement affected to a high degree in the trunk, legs, and hands. All the competitors compete while seated and rely on their shoulders and arms to generate power.

Earlier in the day, three Indians finished in the top three in the men's high jump T63 category but only gold and silver were awarded under Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) rules.

The three Indians were the only competitors in the event and under APC's 'minus one rule', Shailesh Kumar won the gold with an Asian Para Games record jump of 1.82m while Mariyappan Thangavelu (1.80m) took the silver.

In para-sports, athletes are classified according to the degree of activity limitation resulting from the impairment. Classification determines which athletes are eligible to compete in a particular event. This is done to ensure fair competition.