NAGOYA: India crossed the 100-medal mark at the Asian Para Games 2026 on Friday after Sandeep Singh Maan and Haney produced world-record performances to win gold medals in athletics, India Today reported.
Sandeep, competing in a combined men's 400m event featuring athletes from the T44, T42 and T64 classifications, led the race from the start at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. He held his advantage despite a late surge from Saudi Arabia's Alsana Noor.
He clocked 52.28 seconds to win gold, bettering his personal best by more than a second and setting a new world record in the category. The win helped take India's medal tally past 100 at the Games.
Ajay Kumar, running in Lane 5 of the same race, won bronze with a time of 53.61 seconds, adding another medal to India's count.
The gold also gave India its 25th gold medal of the competition, taking the country to within two of its best-ever gold-medal haul of 27, achieved at the 2022 Hangzhou edition.
Moments later, javelin thrower Haney broke a longstanding world record in the men's F37-38 event. He saved his best for his final two attempts, throwing 59.72m and then 60.49m to win gold.
Haney's winning distance bettered the previous world record of 57.81m, set by China's Xia Dong in 2008, India Today reported. Haney had already won gold in the same event at the 2022 Hangzhou edition.
Sandeep Singh Maan, born on July 16, 1993, is a para-athlete from Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, who was born with a structural impairment in his left hand. He trains under national athletics coach Satyapal Singh at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, and has previously won silver at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Para Games and bronze at the 2018 edition.