Staff reporter      

National para-athlete, Chimi Dema, threw a personal best of 5.71 metres (m) in the women’s F40 shot put category to grab the silver medal at the fifth Indian Open Para-Athletics International Championships in Bangalore, India on May 6.

She was just short of 17 centimetres to grab the gold. Winner Nisha threw 5.88m. Choti Mehara, who is in third place threw 5.40m, followed by Nalini Arunachalam with 2.57m.

There were no participants from other countries except three from India in her category.

The fifth edition championship which ended yesterday witnessed hundreds of para-athletes from 11 countries.

Chimi, who is a first-year student at Royal Thimphu College, participated in the championship after attending four-day advanced regional sports training (RST) from April 30 to May 2 at the same venue.

The RST is supported by the International Paralympic Committee’s worldwide partner Toyota in collaboration with the Paralympic Committee of India, World Para Athletics, and the Badminton World Federation.

The training is to maximise opportunities for athletes, coaches, technical officials, and classifiers to develop professionally, and promote para games in their respective countries.

This year, over 90 participants from 11 different countries in Asia participated in the programme.

Along with Chimi, three coaches: para athletics coach Penjore Gyeltshen and Lhaba Tshering; and badminton coach Dorji also participated in the RST.

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