Shailesh Kumar shines in a depleted field on opening day of World Para Athletics GP

Mariyappan Thangavelu was expected to be the star attraction on Day One of the World Para Athletics Grand Prix here on Wednesday but in his absence, Shailesh Kumar had an easy outing in a depleted field at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

With empty stands and barely any information available on the participants, events and results, the second edition of the competition hardly has any big name participating.

The World Champion in T42 High Jump managed a best of 1.84m and was satisfied with his effort. “It is my first competition this year and the main target is the Asian Games. I have been working on my technique with my coach and also have a little niggle in my left knee. Given all that, the performance today was ok,” said Shailesh.

It was one of the several events that had three or fewer entries, most of them Indian. “Having someone pushing you in competition and crowd presence makes a lot of difference. Here I had to keep talking to myself in my later jumps to stay focused. Hopefully we will get a few competitions abroad before Asian Games,” hoped Shailesh, who set a new World Championships record of 1.91m at the same venue last year, hoped.

Russia’s David Dzhatiev, two-time World champion and one of the few stars in the fray, took gold in the 100m T35 in 13.43s.

Important results (winners only):

Men: 100m (T35): David Dzhatiev (Rus, 13.43s); 100m (T44): Sandeep (12.03s); 100m (T46-47): Dilip Gavit (10.96s); 1500m (T11): Ankur Dhama (4:38.15); 1500m (T12-13): Darko Marisavljevic (Srb, 4:15.74); high jump (T44): Praveen Kumar (1.96m); high jump (T42): Shailesh Kumar (1.84m); discus (F44-64): Rakesh (49.26m); discus (F37): Haney (50.95m).

Women: 100m (T35): Preethi Pal (14.46s); 1500m (T11-12): Soumya (5:18.94); shot put (F33-34): Galina Lipatnikova (Rus, 7.39m); shot put (F56): Poonam Sharma (6.85m).