Tokyo Paralympics: Mariyappan Thangavelu wins silver, India bag two medals in high jump

Tokyo Paralympics: Mariyappan Thangavelu wins silver meda (Twitter/jswsports)

Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar continued India's rich form at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics, securing silver and bronze medals in the finals of men's high jump T-63 class.

Mariyappan, who had also secured a gold at Rio Paralympics in 2016, kicked-off the event with a 1.77m jump in the first attempt. The 26-year-old then went on to clear the 1.80m mark comfortably and in his third jump, the star Indian crossed the 1.83m mark.   

It's #Silver for #IND

Mariyappan Thangavelu wins SILVER Medal in the Men's High Jump T63 Final event.#Tokyo2020 | #Paralympics | #Praise4Para | #ParaAthletics pic.twitter.com/zzRoM1PmTm — Doordarshan Sports (@ddsportschannel) August 31, 2021

However, Mariyappan faced a few trouble when the bar was raised to 1.86m, taking him three attempts to complete the jump cleanly. Following the jump, Mariyappan failed to cross the 1.88m mark and fell to the second position after USA's Sam Grewe.  

Grewe, who holds the record of a 1.90m jump, gave a close contest to Mariyappan after initially running third till the 1.83m attempt. With Sharad failing to jump over the 1.86m mark in all his three attempts, the American overtook him as he cleared the height in his third attempt.   

Grewe then snatched the gold, which looked almost certain going back into India's kitty, after he breached the 1.88m again in his third attempt.  

Just as at Rio 2016, #IND have  athletes in the podium places in Men's High Jump T63 Final! 

Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar have won #silver and #bronze medals respectively, taking 's medal tally into double figures! #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics #ParaAthletics pic.twitter.com/HSadcK8Nnt — #Tokyo2020 for India (@Tokyo2020hi) August 31, 2021

Meanwhile, Sharad Kumar kicked-off the show in similar fashion and was ranked on the top alongside Mariyappan until the 1.83m mark. However, Sharad failed to breach the 1.86m mark and slipped to the third position. 

Varun Bhatti, who was the third Indian in the fray, finished seventh in the finals.   

Earlier in the day, shooter Singhraj Adana fetched a bronze in the men's 10mair pistol SH1 event. India have so far won two gold, five silver and three bronze medals.