India's Nishad Kumar clinched the silver medal on Sunday in the men's high jump (T46/47) category at the ongoing Tokyo Paralympics. Nishad Kumar equalled his own Asian record with a jump of 2.06m in the final of the high jump event. The other Indian in the fray Ram Pal finished a creditable fifth, equalling his personal best jump of 1.94m. USA's Dallas Wise (T46) had a best jump of 2.06m -- the same as Nishad Kumar -- to also win the silver medal. The other American in the event Roderick Townsend set a new world record by jumping 2.15m to win the gold medal.
In the final, Nishad Kumar started with a jump of 1.89m and cleared it without much fuss. Ram Pal, who had set his initial mark of 1.84m, also made a fine start.
Ram Pal then cleared the height of 1.89 in his very first attempt to stay in touch with the leaders.
With the height set at 1.94m, Nishad once again cleared the mark in his very first attempt but Ram Pal registered an unsuccessful jump but cleared the height in his second attempt to equal his personal best.
1.98 proved to be the downfall for Ram Pal as he registered three unsuccessful attempts to bow out. Nishad too had nervy moment as he failed to clear the height in his first attempt but his second attempt proved to be successful.
Giving competition to Nishad Kumar at this time was Chen Hongjie of China while the two American athletes hadn't even entered the fray with their opening jumps set at 2.02m.
Nishad Kumar shot to the top by clearing the 2.02 mark in his first attempt but the height proved a bit too high for the Chinese athlete, failing in his all three attempts.
Dallas Wise, surprisingly, registered a failed attempt with his first jump but then cleared the mark in the second. Roderick, on the other hand, cleared the 2.02 mark in his very attempt.
The bar was then raised to 2.06m and both Nishad Kumar and Dallas Wise failed to clear the height in their first attempt but managed to do so in the second. NIshad equalled his previous best jump by clearing the 2.06m mark, which also happened to be the Asian record.
Roderick, though, was in a class of his own, easily clearing the 2.06m in his first attempt.
Nishad Kumar and Dallas Wise could not clear the 2.09m mark, failing in all three attempts to take home the silver medal.
Roderick again had no problems and cleared the height in his first attempt to secure the gold medal. The top prize already in the bag, the American, though, wasn't finished yet and went after the world record, which he managed to break after clearing the 2.15m mark.