Shailesh Kumar leapt 1.89m, shattering the Asian Para Games record and taking gold in the men's high jump T63 at Nagoya City Mizuho Park. The jump left the crowd stunned and set a new benchmark, eclipsing the 1.80m mark set by Sharad Kumar back in 2014. His victory secured India a clean sweep of the podium.
The bar was raised to 1.84m, putting Shailesh and Varun Bhati at a crossroads. Both cleared the height, but Shailesh's subsequent 1.87m clearance gave him the edge.
Varun Bhati claimed silver with a season best of 1.84m, while Rahul Saroha took bronze after clearing 1.81m. Their performances lifted India to a 3‑0 podium finish for the second consecutive Games.
This marks India’s third clean sweep at the Asian Para Games, following earlier triumphs in discus and shot put. The record‑breaking jump also snapped the previous Games record that had stood for twelve years.
Other nations fought hard for the remaining spots: Philippines’ Edwin Enguito, Myanmar’s Zaw Min Tun and Pakistan’s Muhammad Nadeem finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Their efforts, however, fell short of the podium.
With the high jump concluded, India is eyeing the next para‑athletics events to extend its gold‑medal haul and cement its dominance across multiple disciplines.