New Delhi, Oct 3 (IANS) Teenage American Arelle Middleton broke seasoned Chinese star Yao Juan’s stranglehold on the women’s Shot Put F64 gold in the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday.

The intensity of competition between the two athletes was very high, with 17-year-old Middleton losing no time in throwing down the gauntlet. A 12.38m effort helped her hold pole position after the opening round. The Chinese legend responded with a 12.42m throw on her second visit to the circle and increase the lead with a 12.82m attempt.

Middleton, who won the F64 silver medal in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, was not ready to concede defeat and wound herself up to produce a 12.95m throw on her fourth visit. She scripted another big throw over 12.93m to show that her earlier effort was no flash in the pan.

The 44-year-old Yao Juan, who started competing nearly a quarter century ago and is a past master at dealing with pressure with six Paralympic Games gold and 10 World Championshops crowns, fouled two attempts before throwing everything she had on her final try. It resulted in her second best throw of the morning, a 12.52m, one that left the American with the gold medal.

Middleton’s win enabled America to edge ahead of India on the charts with more silver medals. It moved to seventh place with 4 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze, while India has 4 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals and slipped to eighth place.

India’s hopes of a fifth gold medal hinge on Simran, who breezed into the women’s 100m T12 final in a personal best time of 12.08 seconds in the semifinals. Running with Umar Saifi as her guide, she admirably channelised her nervous energy in the right direction to beat back a good challenge by Spain’s Nagore Folgado Garcia to earn a ticket to Friday evening’s final.

Meanwhile, while Brazil stayed on top of the medal table with 12 gold, 18 silver and 7 bronze, second placed China was left to deal with a gritty show by Poland athletes. Both countries have 8 gold each after Faustyna Kotlowska claimed the women’s Shot Put F64 crown with a Championships Record of 10.88m.

–IANS

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