NAGOYA (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan’s Haider Ali won silver in the men’s F37 discus at the Asian Para Games in Nagoya on Wednesday, throwing a personal best of 57.20 metres and missing gold by just 19 centimetres.
Uzbekistan’s Kudratillokhon Marufkhujaev took the title with 57.39m, a Games record. India’s Haney won bronze with 57.04m, also a personal best, leaving the top three separated by 35 centimetres.
The fifth throw
Ali opened with 51.63m and improved to 56.51m in the second round before dropping back to 54.98m and 53.65m. His fifth attempt of 57.20m moved him into the silver-medal position, and he closed with 54.45m.
Behind the medallists, Uzbekistan’s Tolibboy Yuldashev was fourth with 55.39m, Japan’s Yamato Shimbo fifth with 51.31m, Uzbekistan’s Asilbek Mukimov sixth with 49.90m and Thailand’s Thanaphon Kongsao seventh with 36.34m. The world record in the class, 59.75m, belongs to Uzbekistan’s Khusniddin Norbekov and was set at the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
“Alhamdolilah silver medal in Asian para games Nagoya 2026,” Ali wrote on X after the event. He told reporters he was grateful that his hard work had paid off, and said he had trained for a year for the Games.
Two decades at the top
Ali, 41, was born in Gujranwala and has represented Pakistan for almost twenty years. He is the country’s most decorated Paralympian: he won silver in the long jump at Beijing 2008, bronze in the long jump at Rio 2016, Pakistan’s first Paralympic gold in the discus at Tokyo 2020, and bronze in the discus at Paris 2024.
The Nagoya silver adds to four gold medals and two bronzes from earlier Asian Para Games.∎
