Kazakhstan's national team won 14 medals – three gold, five silver and six bronze – on the first medal day of the 5th Asian Para Games in Aichi and Nagoya. The national team ranks fifth in the unofficial medal standings. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

First gold

The team's first gold medal was brought by Yerkin Gabbasov in para shooting. In the final of the 10-meter air rifle event in the R1 class, the Kazakhstani athlete scored 249.1 points, set a competition record and secured a license for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

Para powerlifting

In para powerlifting, two-time Paralympic champion David Degtyarev became the champion. The Kazakhstani athlete won in the up to 54 kg weight category with a result of 191 kg and also set a new Asian Para Games record.

The third gold for Kazakhstan was brought by para judoka Ibragim Nurmakhanuly. In the up to 70 kg category of the J2 class, he defeated Uzbekistan's Kemran Nurillaev in the final.

Para powerlifting became the most productive sport for Kazakhstan – the athletes won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

Besides Degtyarev, Tursynay Kabyl, Alina Solodukhina, Aizhan Berimkulova and Stanislav Shakiev stepped onto the podium.

Kabyl finished second in the up to 41 kg category, lifting 104 kg. Solodukhina won silver in the up to 45 kg weight class with a result of 103 kg, while Berimkulova took third in the same category with 101 kg. Shakiev won bronze among men in the up to 59 kg category, lifting 181 kg.

Para cycling

In para cycling on the track, Kazakhstan won two awards in the 4000-meter individual pursuit among athletes with visual impairments.

Anastasia Kalaus, together with pilot Polina Bratchikova, won silver. In the men's tournament, Kirill Ilyukevich and his pilot Gleb Brusensky became bronze medalists.

Para judo

In para judo, in addition to Nurmakhanuly's gold, Alfiya Tlekkabyl won a bronze medal in the up to 52 kg category of the J1 class. In the bronze medal match, the Kazakhstani athlete defeated a representative of Kyrgyzstan.

Swimming

Kazakhstani swimmers finished the day with two silver and two bronze medals.

Dias Kenzhebek became a silver medalist in the 100-meter freestyle in the S10 class. Bronze medals were won by Roman Potapov in the 100-meter backstroke in the S11 class and Viktor Volkov in the 100-meter freestyle in the S13 class.

Kazakhstan received another silver in the mixed 4×50-meter medley relay in the 20-point category. The team included Natalya Zvyagintseva, Ali Turganbekov, Zulfiya Gabidullina and Siyazbek Daliev.

Volleyball

Kazakhstan's men's sitting volleyball team started with a victory over Thailand – 3:0. The team will play its next match against Iran.

Table tennis

In para table tennis, Ali Makhulbekov defeated the Philippines' Wilfredo Redulla – 3:2 – and advanced to the next stage. Raushan Orynbayeva beat Japan's Setsu Tsunoda – 3:1, and Aruzhan Giniyatova was stronger than Macau's U Choi Hong with the same score.

Wheelchair tennis

In wheelchair tennis, Yerdaulet Kadymbergenov defeated Chinese Taipei's Wang Wei-Hsuan – 7:5, 2:6, 6:3. Yevgeny Bykov beat South Korea's Lee Yong-bae – 6:4, 6:2. Temirlan Seitkamal and Nurshat Toleukasym advanced to the quarterfinals of the individual para archery competitions in the W1 class.

Medal standings

After the first medal day, China leads with 26 gold, 20 silver and 16 bronze medals. Kazakhstan ranks fifth with three gold medals.

At the same time, the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan separately reported the silver of Yelaman Zholaman in the F35 class shot put with a result of 12.09 meters. However, this award is not counted in the official medal standings of the Games due to the "minus one" rule. According to it, if three or fewer athletes compete in a discipline, the number of medals awarded is reduced by one compared to the number of participants. Since only two athletes competed in the discipline, only the gold medal was awarded. Therefore, Zholaman officially took second place, but the silver is not added to Kazakhstan's medal count.

The 5th Asian Para Games are being held in Aichi and Nagoya from October 18 to 24. Kazakhstan's team is represented by 150 athletes in 12 sports.