Nadda hails Preeti Pal's silver in Women's 100m T35 at Asian Para Games 2026
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
A second medal at the same Games — that is the story Preeti Pal is writing at the Asian Para Games 2026. Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda took to X on Wednesday, October 21 to congratulate the para-sprinter on clinching silver in the Women's 100m T35 event, calling it proof of her 'focus, consistency and determination.'
Preeti Pal's second podium finish at these Games
The silver in the 100m T35 is Preeti Pal's second medal at the 2026 Asian Para Games, underlining a campaign defined by back-to-back podium appearances. The T35 classification covers athletes with coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia, or athetosis — disciplines that demand extraordinary neuromuscular control alongside raw speed.
Nadda's post, carrying the exclamation 'ANOTHER SILVER FOR BHARAT!', framed the result not as an isolated win but as part of a continuing upward arc. 'May she continue to break barriers and scale new heights in athletics,' he wrote — language that points as much to future potential as to the medal on the table today.
India's growing footprint at the Asian Para Games
India's engagement with the Asian Para Games has deepened steadily over successive editions. At the 2023 Games in Hangzhou, the national contingent recorded multiple medal wins across disciplines, signalling a broader infrastructure push behind para-athletics. Each podium result at a continental para-sports meet feeds a cumulative narrative the government has been keen to amplify — that India is no longer merely a participant but a genuine medal contender.
Senior ministers publicly congratulating para-athletes is now a deliberate and established practice, placing para-sport recognition alongside mainstream cricket and Olympic achievements in official messaging. Preeti Pal's silver lands squarely in that frame.