Paralympic Heroes: Nitesh and Antil Shine Bright for India's Gold Medals

Inspired by armed forces and Virat Kohli, Kumar Nitesh clinched gold on his Paralympic debut in men's singles SL3 para-badminton. Sumit Antil followed with a javelin throw F64 gold, breaking his own Games record. India's medal tally reached 14, aiming to surpass the 19 medals from Tokyo.

Inspired by the country's armed forces and cricket star Virat Kohli, a determined Kumar Nitesh sparkled with a gold medal on debut as India's para-badminton players joined javelin throw champion Sumit Antil in ensuring that the nation celebrated its best day at the ongoing Paralympic Games.

With their heroics, India remained on course for a record-breaking medal haul. The 29-year-old engineering graduate from IIT-Mandi, who lost his left leg in a train accident back in 2009, won top honors in the men's singles SL3 category, defeating Tokyo silver-medallist Daniel Bethell of Britain 21-14, 18-21, 23-21 in a gruelling final that lasted over an hour.

Later in the evening, Sumit Antil hogged the limelight with his exploits by becoming the first Indian man to defend a Paralympic title. He won the javelin throw F64 final with a Games record of 70.59m. The 26-year-old from Sonipat bettered his own previous Paralympic best of 68.55m set in Tokyo while winning the gold three years ago.

(With inputs from agencies.)