India's medal tally at the World Para Athletics Championships increased to five after high jumpers Sharad Kumar and Varun Singh Bhati won silver and bronze respectively in the T42 category in London on Saturday.
Sharad cleared a height of 1.84m to take home the silver, finishing behind Rio silver medallist Sam Grewe who cleared 1.86m to win the Gold medal. Bhati overcame the injury woes which had accompanied him into the tournament to jump 1.77m and repeat his bronze medal-winning performance from the Rio Paralympics.
Speaking after his medal-winning effort, Sharad said, "I am very happy that I was able to give my best today and reap the reward of the high performance stint I had in Ukraine. It helped me to deliver when it really mattered and I wish to continue my training with coach Nikitin Evgeny. I will take inputs from him to plan my schedule ahead of the Para Asian Games 2018. I would like to thank everyone who has supported my journey and helped me on my journey, and especially the GoSports Foundation for funding my high performance training before this tournament."
Javelin thrower Sundar Singh Gurjar had opened India's count with his gold medal-winning performance, club thrower Amit Saroha landed a silver in his event, followed by discus thrower Karamjyoti Dalal who moved up into bronze winning position after the Chinese athlete in her event was disqualified.
The final day of the biennial event will see 3 Indians in action - track athlete Jayanti Behera will compete in her main event of 400m T47, while Gurjar and Rohit will take part in the F46 Discus Throw.
Sharad had finished sixth at the Paralympics after leading in the initial stages of the competition. He had previously won gold at the 2014 Para Asian Games and was inspired to become a high jumper by his brother. A positive doping test in 2012 - for stanozolol - had led to him being banned and prevented him from competing in London. The 24-year-old also participated at the 2010 Asian Para Games.
Bhati, who is from Greater Noida and trains at the Sports Authority of India centre in Bangalore, has polio in one leg. He had won the gold at the 2014 China Open Athletics Championship, and finished fifth at the 2014 Para Asian Games in Incheon (South Korea) and 2015 Para World Championships in Doha (Qatar). He had also achieved the 'A' qualification mark for the 2012 London Paralympics.