Asian Para Games: Tejalben Damor adds silver to India’s medal tally

Nagoya: In another double-medal delight for India, Anjanaben Bumbadiya and Jayanti Nehra clinched gold and silver medals, respectively, in the women’s 400m T47 event at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium here on Thursday.

Anjanaben clinched the gold medal in the 400m T47 event with a time of 59.97 seconds (848 Raza points). She finished less than a second ahead of fellow Indian Jayanti, who won silver with a time of 1:00.65 (815 Raza points). Thailand’s Sasirawan Inthachot finished third to claim bronze in 1:02.58 (714 Raza points). Nepal’s Prabha Angdembe finished fourth in 1:15.81 (89 Raza points).

Anjanaben came close to breaking the Asian Para Games record of 58.39 seconds, set by Chinese athlete Li Lu at the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Tejalben Damor also won silver for India in the women’s 400m T12 event, clocking an impressive 57.60 seconds. Her performance added another medal to India’s tally in para athletics.

Iran’s Hajar Safarzadeh won gold in 56.43 seconds, while China’s Shen Yaqin, guided by He Yuchong, clinched bronze in 58.04 seconds.

Anjanaben is a Gujarat-based para-athlete. Born in Gujarat in 2001, she has a congenital upper-limb impairment, with one arm shorter than normal.

She is one of India’s fastest-rising female para-sprinters and the reigning Khelo India Para Games champion from 2025. She clocked her personal best of 1:00.04 last year at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi.

Jayanti, born in 1999, is an athlete from Odisha classified in the T47 category. She suffered severe second-degree burns at the age of one after accidentally falling into an earthen stove (chulha). The incident resulted in permanent contractures of her left elbow and hand. Her school coach, Bishnu Prasad Mishra, identified her talent and enrolled her at his Gurukul Athletic Training Centre in Sakhigopal, where he trained her free of cost.

Jayanti won two medals at the 2018 Asian Para Games: silver in the women’s 400m T47 event in 59.71 seconds and bronze in the women’s 200m T47 event in 27.45 seconds. She also won gold in the 400m at the 2017 World Junior Para Athletics Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, becoming the world youth champion.