India, Sept. 28 -- Shailesh Kumar opened India's account on the opening day of the World Para Athletics Championships with gold in the high jump T63 event at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday. The 25-year-old cleared 1.91m to not only rewrite the championship record, but also beat USA's 20-year-old phenom Ezra Frech - the reigning Paralympics champion.

Shailesh's disability class of T42 pertains to above-knee amputation or a similar functional impairment. The athletes classified under this category are permitted to compete in T63 events, which include those with less severe through-knee or above-knee single limb deficiency.

Shailesh's golden jump hence bettered the T42 championship record of 1.83m that was held by India's Sh...