Tokyo Paralympics: Will India win its first medal tomorrow?

Tek Chand

Tek Chand is a javelin thrower and has taken to shot putt very recently. He will be up against some of the world's best para shot putters such as Lech Stoltman and Ruzhdi Ruhzdi. There are about 8 competitors in that field who will be taking part in the shot put final and all of them have personal best throws of over 10.50m.

Tek Chand has a personal best of 9.57m and will be looking to take his throw till at least 11.50m to stand a chance of winning a medal. The chances of him winning a medal are low if he cannot cross the 11.50m mark but he can still pull it off given that he has relative experience in technical throwing events before.

Jaideep Deswal

Jaideep Deswal is another athlete who has begun powerlifting only in the past few years and has managed his time between discus throw and powerlifting. Competing in the men's 65kg category, there are about 10 competitors in that field who are with him. One of the formidable competitors is Liu Lei who won Gold at the Rio Paralympics in 2016 in the 72kg category.

Narorong Kasanun is another competitor who has won bronze in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in the 52kg category. Mohammed Tarbash and Adou Ano are two other experienced competitors in the field of powerlifters.

Jaideep finished 7^th at the World Championships held in 2017 and 4^th at the Asian Para Games in 2018. He has changed his weight categories but has finally settled in with the 65kg category where his experience can help him win India's first medal at the Paralympics this year.