Deepthi Jeevanji storms to 400m T20 gold with Games record at Asian Para Games

Deepthi Jeevanji won the women's 400m T20 final at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Tuesday, setting a new Games record of 56.36 seconds.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medallist dominated the race and crossed the line more than two seconds ahead of the field. Japan's Niina Kanno took silver in 58.92 seconds, and her compatriot Akane Kato won bronze.

India's fifth gold

The victory gave India its fifth gold medal of the Games and its first on the second day of competition. The T20 classification is for athletes with an intellectual impairment.

Jeevanji, from Telangana, has been one of India's most consistent para athletes in recent years, and her winning margin in Japan underlined her standing as the leading runner in the event in Asia.

The win adds to an already strong record. In May 2024 she set a world record on her way to the 400m T20 title at the World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, also in Japan, before going on to win bronze at the Paris Paralympics later that year. Tuesday's run confirmed her as the clear favourite in her class across the region and an athlete to watch heading into the next Paralympic cycle.

Other Indian results

Veteran table tennis player Bhavina Patel, a silver medallist at the Tokyo Paralympics, won bronze in the women's singles Class 4-5 after losing her semi-final to China's Zhang Bian in straight games.

In badminton, Pramod Bhagat and Manisha Ramdass reached the semi-finals of the mixed doubles SL3-SU5 event with a straight-games win over a Thai pair, which assures them of at least a bronze.

In archery, several Indians advanced to the quarter-finals of their individual events, including Harvinder Singh in the men's recurve and Sheetal Devi in the compound section.

Why it matters

Medals across athletics, table tennis and badminton in the opening days point to growing depth in India's para sport programme, with archery and several other events still to come in Japan.