National Para Athletics: Sumit Antil, Rinku Hooda shine in javelin throw events 

Sumit Antil and Rinku Hooda produced their best-ever performance in javelin throw events at the National Para Athletics Championship on Friday.

Tokyo Paralympics-bound Antil broke his own javelin throw world record in the F44 category as he registered an effort of 66.90m to claim gold.

In the process, he broke his previous record of 66.43m which he attained at the Indian Grand Prix, organised by the Athletics Federation of India at Patiala earlier this year. He had competed alongside Tokyo-bound Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh during the meet.

The 22-year-old qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics through the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships after clinching a silver medal behind his Indian compatriot Sandeep Chaudhary.

Chaudhary, a former world record holder, finished second at the Nationals with his best throw of 60.90m.

Meanwhile, Rinku Hooda recorded his best performance with 62:51 m in the F-46 category, to clinch the gold medal at the National Para Athletics Championship.

It was incidentally his second consecutive gold in the nationals.

Hooda, who had lost his left arm in an accident that involved a fan blade, represented India at Rio Paralympics. He fell short of the podium finish with a throw of 54.39 m at the quadrennial showpiece event. Later at the 2017 World Championships in London, he finished at the fourth spot, with a throw of 55.12 m.