Breaking
Other Sports

Haney, Banti and Tejas Nandakumar: Samarth-backed para athletes return from Asian Para Games with four medals

Hyundai's Samarth programme sent five athletes to Aichi-Nagoya; three of them came home with a world-record gold, a silver and two bronzes

By , Sports writer

· 2 min read

Hyundai Samarth poster showing Sheetal Devi, Haney, Tejas Nandakumar and Banti with their Asian Para Games 2026 medals
Sheetal Devi, Haney, Tejas Nandakumar and Banti at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games Photo: Image: Hyundai Motor India (press release)

Para athletes supported by Samarth by Hyundai won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games, led by Haney's world-record javelin throw. Brand ambassador Sheetal Devi added two golds and a silver in archery.

Key takeaways

  • Five athletes backed by Samarth by Hyundai qualified for the 2026 Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
  • Haney won men's javelin F37/38 gold with a world-record 60.49m and added bronze in the F37 discus.
  • Banti took silver in the men's high jump T64 with a personal-best 1.92m, behind India's Praveen Kumar.
  • Swimmer Tejas Nandakumar won bronze in the men's 100m backstroke S7.
  • Hyundai brand ambassador Sheetal Devi won two archery golds and one silver.

Four medals from five qualifiers. That is the return for the para athletes supported by Samarth by Hyundai, the sports programme run by the Hyundai Motor India Foundation, at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games, which ran from 18 to 24 October in Japan.

Hyundai Motor India set out the numbers in a statement on 29 October: one gold, one silver and two bronze, spread across para athletics and para swimming. Each of those results has also been reported independently by Indian outlets.

The medals, one by one

  • Haney, men's javelin F37/38: gold with a world-record 60.49m, thrown on 23 October.

  • Haney, men's discus F37: bronze.

  • Banti, men's high jump T64: silver with a personal-best 1.92m.

  • Tejas Nandakumar, men's 100m backstroke S7: bronze in 1:18.58.

Haney's record night

Haney was already the Asian Para Games champion, having won the same javelin event at Hangzhou in 2023 with a Games record. In Nagoya he went further, pushing the world mark out to 60.49m. Iran's Hormoz Seidikazpounji took silver. Haney then added a discus bronze, which made him the only Samarth-backed athlete to win two medals.

An Indian one-two in the high jump

Banti's silver came in an all-Indian finish at the top. Praveen Kumar, the Tokyo Paralympic silver medallist, won with 2.05m, a Games record, and Banti cleared 1.92m for second. Uzbekistan's Temurbek Giyazov was third with 1.86m.

A rare swimming medal

Tejas Nandakumar's bronze stands out in a sport where India won 11 medals but no golds in Nagoya. China's Ruan Jingsong won the race in a Games record of 1:12.16. Earlier this year Nandakumar was named in India's Commonwealth Games squad for Glasgow, but organisers rejected his entry over a classification issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi later congratulated him on the bronze.

Sheetal Devi's haul

Hyundai's brand ambassador, the armless archer Sheetal Devi, is listed separately from the Samarth group in Hyundai's statement, and she had the biggest week of all. She retained her women's compound individual title, beating Singapore's Nur Syahidah Alim 142-139 in the final. With Toman Kumar she won mixed team gold, 151-148 over Indonesia. She also took silver with Payal Nag in the women's doubles, losing to China 141-150.

Why it matters

India finished fourth on the medal table with a record 114 medals: 30 gold, 35 silver and 49 bronze. Hyundai MD and CEO Tarun Garg said the company was "immensely proud" of the group and that it would keep backing para athletes through Samarth.

Sources

Topics

Spotted an error? Read our corrections policy or use the flag button above. Our editorial standards explain how we report.

Discussion

Sign in or create a free account to join the discussion. Please follow our community guidelines.