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India’s Ayush Verma won the men’s shot put F53 gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Para Games on Wednesday, October 21, with a best effort of 8.16 metres. The Indian athlete produced the winning throw on his fifth attempt, finishing ahead of Iran’s Alireza Hemami and Kazakhstan’s Makhambet Serikkaliyev. The victory added a second medal to Verma’s campaign after he won bronze in the men’s javelin throw F53/F54 event on Tuesday.
Verma’s 8.16m effort placed him at the top of the F53 shot put standings. Hemami finished second with 8.09m, only seven centimetres behind the Indian, while Serikkaliyev took bronze with 6.81m. Those results made the top three a contest decided by measured distances, with Verma’s fifth-attempt throw proving sufficient for gold.
The result gave India another title in para athletics at the continental competition. It also extended Verma’s personal medal return at these Games from one podium finish to two, with the shot put gold following his javelin bronze on the previous day. The two results came in different throwing events, highlighting his participation across the seated field disciplines.
Verma’s earlier medal came in the men’s javelin throw F53/F54 event, where he secured bronze on Tuesday. The shot put result followed on Wednesday and upgraded his medal colour to gold. Reports from multiple outlets identify the sequence as his second medal of the competition.
The back-to-back podium finishes are significant for India’s para-athletics campaign because they add medals across separate events rather than a single discipline. The shot put final also brought a close contest for first place: Hemami’s 8.09m was close to Verma’s winning distance, while Serikkaliyev’s 6.81m secured the third position.
F53 is a field classification for athletes whose trunk and leg movement is significantly limited, while hand-grip function is affected to a lesser degree. Competitors perform the shot put from a seated position and generate force using the muscles and movement available through the chest, upper back and shoulders. The classification is designed to group athletes according to the impact of their impairment on the event.
Because the event is decided by distance, each legal attempt can be important. In Verma’s case, the reported best effort came on his fifth attempt. The final standings placed him ahead of two international rivals from Iran and Kazakhstan, with the three medal-winning distances recorded as 8.16m, 8.09m and 6.81m.
Verma’s result offers a useful example for Indian athletes and grassroots para-sports programmes: throwing events reward repeatable technique, control from the seated position and the ability to deliver a best effort under competition pressure. His medals in javelin and shot put also show how athletes competing in related classifications can build a multi-event campaign at a major championship.
Times of India reported that Verma is from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, and began his competitive para-sports journey in 2020. Those details provide local context for his performance, although the event result itself remains the central achievement: an 8.16m throw, gold in the men’s F53 shot put and a second medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. SportsLine will continue to follow India’s para-athletes as results emerge from the Asian Para Games.
The gold adds to India’s growing medal return at the Games and gives Verma a standout result in the field programme. The available reports confirm his podium position and the leading distances; readers should consult the official event results for any full attempt-by-attempt series or additional technical details not reproduced in the reports cited here.
