By Admin 
Sumit Antil knew he would complete his hat-trick of World titles even before the competition began. With a season’s best of 72.35m, almost 25 metres more than the personal best of his closest competitor in the F64 javelin throw category, the two-time Paralympic champion and world record holder had only himself to beat on day four of the World Para Athletics here on Tuesday.
Sumit did that with his first throw of 65.59m but having set off with a target of 75m, had to settle for a new championship record (CR) with a best of 71.37m in his final throw, still 22m clear of the next best despite a sore neck and shoulder that he kept stretching and massaging after every attempt.
“I woke up with neck and shoulder pain two days ago and I am thankful to my physio that I could even participate today. It got worse during warm-up so given the circumstances, I am satisfied with at least a CR,” Sumit said.
Planning to start the next season early in February, Sumit will now undergo an MRI on his shoulder to gauge the extent of injury. He was one of the four medallists on the most productive day for India so far in the competition including two golds.
In the F44 javelin category, Sandip Sargar and Sandeep Chaudhary completed a 1- 2, the former winning his first World Championship medal with a personal best-equalling 62.67m and the latter his second after the gold in 2019 (62.82m). World record holder Mahendra Gurjar, however, finished a disappointing seventh.
In the morning session, Yogesh Kathuniya threw 42.49m for silver in the discus throw F56, finishing behind Brazil’s five-time champion Claudine Batista — a repeat of their results from the past two editions.
“Honestly, today was the first time ever that I had no target in mind or pressure to perform. I wanted to do my best in front of my family and friends, which I did so I am happy,” Yogesh said.
The results: Men: 100m T13: Shuta Kawakami (Jpn, 10.91s); 100m T44: Naif Almasrahi (KSA, 10.94s); 100m T64: Felix Streng (Ger, 10.73s); 100m T72: Carlo Calcagni (Ita, 14.80m); 200m T35: David Dzhatiev (NPA, 23.01s); 200m T37: Ricardo Mendonca (Bra, 22.77s); 400m T11: Guillaume Atangana (RPT, 51.95s); 400m T20: David Mejia (Esp, 47.12s); 400m T54: Yassine Gharbi (Tun, 44.96s); 1500m T13: Joel Gomez (USA, 3:57.71); 1500m T11: Yeltsin Jacques (Bra, 4:02.02); Discus Throw F56: Claudine Batista (Bra, 45.67m), Yogesh Kathuniya (42.49m); Shot Put F41: Niko Kappel (Ger, 13.34m); Shot Put F11: Amirhossein Darbeid (Iri, 14.59m), Sagar (7th, 11.74m), Monu Ghangas (10th, 10.87m); Long Jump T12: Fernando Vazquez (Arg, 7.01m), Vishu (6th, 6.24m); Javelin Throw F44: Sandip Sargar (62.82m), Sandeep Chaudhary (62.67m), Pushpendra Singh (4th, 61.94m), Mahendra Gurjar (7th, 57.84m); Javelin Throw F64: Sumit Antil (71.37m), Pardeep Kumar (5th, 42.72m).
Women: 100m T72: Magdalena Andruszkiewicz (Pol, 16.82m); 100m T36: Danielle Aitchison (Nzl, 13.43s); 200m T13: Orla Comerford (Irl, 24.71s); Shot Put F54: Gloria Zarza (Mex, 7.97m), Keerthika Jayachandran (6th, 6.25m); Shot Put F34: Lijuan Zou (Chn, 9.15m), Bhagyashri Jadhav (6th, 7.67m); Club Throw F32: Roza Kozakowska (Pol, 29.30m); Long Jump T63: Vanessa Low (Aus, 5.49m).