Reigning Paralympics champ Sumit Antil on Tuesday defended his F64 javelin throw world title while Thangavelu Mariyappan (T63 high jump) and Ekta Bhyan (women’ F51 club throw) also grabbed gold medals as India jumped to third place in the World Para Athletics Championships here. With five medals won on a productive fifth day, India’s tally swelled to 10 (4 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze) and the country is currently placed below China (15 gold, 13 silver, 13 bronze) and Brazil (14 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze).

Antil, 25 sent his spear to a distance of 69.50m to win top spot.  The Haryana athlete is the current world record holder (73.29m) with his  gold medal-winning throw at the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last year. He also holds the World Para Athletics Championships (70.83m) record, winning the gold in the last edition in Paris in 2023.