Indians Clinch 17 Medals, Including Six gold, To Begin Para Asian Games Campaign In Style

India picked up a whopping 17 medals, including six gold, with star shooter Avani Lekhara leading the way as the country ended the opening day of competitions at fourth spot in the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou on Monday. India (6 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze) are behind hosts China (31 gold, 29 silver, 23 bronze), Iran (9 gold, 9 silver, 6 bronze) and Uzbekistan (6 gold, 6 silver, 8 bronze) in the medals tally.

As expected, track and field events contributed the most -- 11 medals (including five gold) out of the 17 on offer.

The day began with the Indians sweeping all the three medals in men's club throw F51 event with Pranav Soorma winning the gold.

The 29-year-old Soorma broke the Asian Para Games record with an effort of 30.01m while Dharambir (28.76m) and Amit Kumar (26.93m) were second and third respectively.

Delighted to start off my Asian Para Games with a Gold Medal in R2 - Women's 10m AR Standing SH1 event. Special feeling to win with an Asian Para Games Record. pic.twitter.com/I3XVuin7RY

There were only four competitors in the event with Saudi Arabia's Radhi Ali Alharthi finishing last with a throw of 23.77m.

Soorma suffered a spinal cord injury after an accident when he was 16 and that left him paralysed. But that did not deter him from taking up para sports, and he won a silver medal at the 2019 Beijing World Para Athletics Grand Prix event.

The F51 club throw event is for athletes who have movement affected to a high degree in the trunk, legs and hands. All the competitors compete while seated and rely on their shoulders and arm to generate power.

Later in the day, Avani made history as she clinched gold in the women's R2 10m air rifle standing SH1 category with a games record score of 249.6.

"This gold is very