India awarded silver, bronze in F46 javelin after winning protest at World Para Athletics C'ships

Kobe, Japan: India were on Saturday awarded the silver and bronze in men's javelin throw F46 event after winning protest against second-place finisher Dinesh Priyantha Herath of Sri Lanka at World Para Athletics Championships.

Rinku Hooda and Ajeet Singh on Friday finished third and fourth respectively in the men's F46 javelin throw final, but the result was put on hold after India lodged a protest that Herath was ineligible to compete in the category.

In para sports, athletes are classified into groups with similar levels of physical ability to allow fair competition.

The F46 classification is for athletes with arm deficiency, impaired muscle power or impaired passive range of movement in arms, with athletes competing in a standing position.

"He (Herath) was not classified properly and did not belong to F 46 category," said an official from Paralympic Committee of India.

India got a favourable decision and Herath was disqualified. Rinku, who originally finished third with an effort of 62.77m, was upgraded to second while Ajeet (62.11m) was handed a bronze.

"We won the protest against the Sri Lankan, who had also won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, that he should not have been eligible to compete,” head coach Satyanarayan told PTI.

"Now, Rinku is the silver winner from original third and Ajeet was upgraded from fourth place to bronze."

With the silver and bronze, India's tally swelled to 14 medals (5 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze) to be in sixth position overall.

This is India's best-ever performance, having surpassed the earlier record medal haul of 10 medals (3 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronze) it won in the 2023 edition in Paris.