Ayush Verma won the men’s shot put F53 gold at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya on Wednesday, throwing 8.16 metres on his fifth attempt to beat Iran’s Alireza Hemami by 0.07 metres. It was his second medal of the Games after Tuesday’s javelin bronze.
Nagoya, Japan: Seven centimetres separated gold from silver. Ayush Verma found them with his fifth throw, a mark of 8.16 metres that carried him past Iran’s Alireza Hemami and settled the F53 final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games.
A two-man contest decided by 0.07 metres
Hemami finished with a best of 8.09 metres, close enough that the margin between the two men was smaller than the length of a hand. Everyone else was left well behind. Makhambet Serikkaliyev of Kazakhstan took bronze with 6.81 metres, 1.28 metres short of Hemami and 1.35 metres short of Verma. Published results gave no breakdown of the other throws in the series.
A second medal in two days
The gold was Verma’s second podium finish in Japan. On Tuesday he took bronze in the men’s javelin F53/F54 with a personal-best 17.88 metres, behind Iran’s Erfan Bondori, who won with 30.24, and India’s Pradeep Kumar, who took silver with 27.45. That event is scored on Raza points, which compare distances across classes, and Verma’s throw was worth 793 of them. The shot put needed no such arithmetic. The longest throw won, and it was his.
The javelin bronze was already part of India’s 24-medal haul on day two. Wednesday’s gold gave Verma a title to go with it.
Part of a strong day for India’s field athletes
Verma was not the only Indian on the podium in the field events. Sachin Khilari set a Games record of 15.87 metres in the men’s shot put F46, with India sweeping all three medals, and Praveen Kumar won the men’s T64 high jump with Banti behind him for an Indian one-two. Verma’s result made it three field golds for India on the day.
Men’s shot put F53, Asian Para Games, Aichi-Nagoya, Wednesday 21 October 2026: Gold, Ayush Verma (India) 8.16 m. Silver, Alireza Hemami (Iran) 8.09 m. Bronze, Makhambet Serikkaliyev (Kazakhstan) 6.81 m.
