Aichi, 23 October. Kazakhstan's para-cyclists took the top two places in the men's 65 km and women's 55 km road races in class B (visually impaired athletes) at the 5th Asian Para Games in Japan, and on the seventh day of competition the team's medal total reached 47: 12 gold, 15 silver and 20 bronze.
In para-cycling Kazakhstan now has 4 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze, the fourth-best result among all teams. Other sports added medals the day before. Kazakhstan's team finished second in the mixed 4×50 m freestyle swimming relay: Natalya Zvyagentseva, Aisultan Kulkeyev, Siyazbek Daliyev and Zulfiya Gabidullina swam it in 2 minutes 48.99 seconds. Judoka Zhanbota Amanzhol won silver in the under-95 kg class J2, in shot put class F36 Dastan Mukashbekov took silver and Ivan Zeleznyak bronze, and Marat Surtubayev and Altynai Yerzhankyzy won bronze in para table tennis.
Archer Nurshat Toleukassym won bronze in class W1: he beat a South Korean 7-3 in the quarterfinal, lost 0-6 to a Chinese archer in the semifinal and beat Thailand's Suphawat Samutchaiyakij 6-2 in the bronze match.
What it means: Kazakhstan keeps adding medals at the Asian Para Games, and para-cycling has become one of its most successful sports there.
Who benefits: The athletes and the National Paralympic Committee gain results before their next events; Paralympic sport as a whole gains attention.
Background: The sitting volleyball team reached the final the day before, coming back from 0-2 down in the semifinal against Iraq (25-27, 21-25, 25-13, 25-15, 15-8).
List of sources used: Tengri Sport, Sport Plus, Zakon.kz, Kazinform
Artificial intelligence was used in preparing this material.
