Top 10 Indian hopes for medal in Tokyo Paralympics

           Originally scheduled to take place in 2020, both the Olympics and Paralympics were postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After the Olympics, now The World will see the ability of para players in Tokyo. Tokyo is the first city to host the Paralympics twice.

            After its best-ever performance in the Olympics Indian, para players are ready to join the celebration. A total of 54 para-athletes from India across nine sports disciplines will be featuring in the Paralympic Games. This is India's biggest ever contingent to the Games. The participation from India in different games is as follows-

              As every player is ready to give its best though top 10 Indian hopes for medals are followings-

1. Devendra Jhajharia (Javelin Throw F46)

        Star Javelin thrower and two times Paralympic champion Devendra Jhajharia are India's biggest hope for a medal in Paralympic games. He is the first Indian Paralympic player to win two gold medals (in 2004 Athens and 2016 Rio). He won the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw F46 event, bettering his own 2004 record with a world-record throw of 63.97metres. He has been honored with Arjuna Award(2004), Padma Shri(2012), and Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna(2017).

2. Mariyappan Thangavelu ( High Jump T63)

            2016 summer Paralympic gold medalist in the men’s high jump gold medalist Mariyappan Thangavelu is another Indian biggest hope after Devendra Jhajharia. The Tamil Nadu comes athlete won the gold medal in the men’s high jump with a leap of 1.89m at the Rio Paralympics. He is also Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna's awardee. Mariyappan will look to become the first Indian to win a medal in successive Paralympics in Tokyo.

3. Pramod Bhagat ( Badminton)

                As Badminton makes its debut at the Paralympic Games, India's Pramod Bhagat has a chance to set his name in the medal tally. The veteran Badminton player is the world's number 1. He has won Gold and Bronze medals in the Men’s Singles and Men’s doubles events at the Asian Para Games in 2018. On his national-level debut in 2005, Bhagat has a long career in which he has won over 100 national and international medals, including four gold at the World Championships.

4. Sumit Antil ( Javelin Throw F64)    

          Not as experienced as Jhajharia, the 23-year old Sumit is the world number 1 in javelin thrower in the F-64 category for this year. He also holds the world record with a throw of 66.90m during the National Para Athletics Championships.

5. Varun Singh Bhati ( High Jump T63)

               The Rio Paralympics bronze medalist Varun Singh Bhati strongly hopes for a medal in the para high jump event. The Arjuna awardee para high jumper has won several medals in international events, including bronze in the 2016 summer Paralympic games. He also won the bronze in the 2017 World Para Athletics Championship by clearing a 1.77 m jump.

6. Tek Chand (Javelin Throw F54)

            India’s flag-bearer Tek Chand is a shot-put para-athlete. In his training, he completes up to 200 throws a day. As per his hard work, he is a strong medal contender.

7. Rubina Francis ( 10m Air Pistol SH1)

            The world number 5 and India's first para shooter will lead the Indian shooting contingent at the Paralympic Games. She is a gold medalist from the Lima World Cup earlier in June 2021. She will continue her good form and clinch a medal to make the whole country proud.

8. Aruna Tanwar (Taekwondo)

          The 21-year-old young Aruna Tanwar is set to create history as she would be the first para-taekwondo player from India. She is ranked fourth globally and will be competing in the 49 kg weight bracket in the K-43 category. 

9. Sonam Rana (Shot Put F57)

            Indian Army’s Havildar Sonam Rana will participate in shot put event F 57 category. Rana has been training at the Army’s Para Node set-up at Bombay Engineering group and center in Pune since 2017.

10. Sundar Singh Gurjar (Javelin Throw F46)

            After the Rio Paralympics debacle, Sunder Singh gurjar will surely be keen to erase his past and looking forward to grabbing a medal in Tokyo. He was just 52 seconds late to reach the call room before his event at Rio and was disqualified. This time he is ready as he said that his throw has improved during the lockdown and is now throwing beyond 68 meters. In 2019, he won his second Worlds gold in Javelin, confirming his place at the Tokyo Paralympics. 

        India has won 12 medals in total in Paralympics since it first took part in 1972.

         Rio Paralympics was India's best-ever performance in the history of the summer Paralympic games with a total of 4 medals (2 Gold, 1 Silver, and 1 Bronze). As India is sending its largest-ever contingent with 54 athletes India’s Chef de Mission for the Tokyo Paralympics, Gursharan Singh believes the country will produce its best-ever performance this year, returning with at least 15 medals, including five golds.

         The expectation of success would not be wide off the mark as at least four Indians are ranked top of the world while six are at number two and around 10 are at the number three in global standings.

          Eurosport channel will live telecast the Tokyo Paralympics in India. Doordarshan will also broadcast Tokyo Paralympics Live and will only broadcast the Indian events at the Tokyo Paralympics.