Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
How many medals can India win at the Tokyo Paralympics?
We take a look at all the prospective medal winners who can bring home some silverware in the next two weeks
India aiming for medal haul at Tokyo Paralympics
Tokyo Paralympics are just 3 days away and the excitement and tension is high. There are 54 Indian athletes competing and all of them have worked extremely hard to get to where they are today.
Overall the expected medal count should be between 8-12 given that there is immense scope of Indian to claim medals in sports such as badminton, events in athletics, archery and several more. We take a look at a few of the brightest medal prospects who will be looking to take India's medal tally way higher that what was achieved at Rio 2016.
Mariyappan Thangavelu
The first name on the list is Rio 2016 Gold Medallist, Mariyappan Thangavelu. He is a high jumper who won gold with a jump of 1.89m in the T-42 category at the Paralympics.
He was only 22 at that time and his medal was a sign of better things to come for India in future editions of the Paralympics. More than winning a gold medal, Mariyapan will be looking to better the 1.89m he cleared at the previous Paralympics.
Ekta Bhyan
The discus and club thrower is on course to claim what is rightfully hers. She has repeatedly won medals at the National Championships(5 gold and 1 bronze) and has also won 3 medals at the multiple editions of the IPC Grand Prix.
Over the past 4 years, she has never finished outside the top 6 of any event that she has competed in. The Asian record holder is all set to make her mark at her first Paralympic Games.
Pramod Bhagat
One of the several World No 1's from India, badminton star Pramod Bhagat has run out of space in his trophy cabinet. Competing in the Men's SL-3 event, the 33 year old has a total of 23 golds, 9 silvers and 13 bronze medals to his name.
He has won gold at tournaments like BWF Para Badminton Championships in Switzerland, IWAS World Games and Asian Games. The Paralympics shall be his final ground to cover as he looks to seal a 24th Gold Medal.
Sumit Antil
The World No 1 javelin thrower from Haryana has a personal best throw of 66.90m. He has been consistent in the national and international level for the past 4-5 years now and will be competing in the F-64 category.
In 2019 he won silver at the World Para Athletics Championships. His coach has previously stated that Sumit has the capability of breaching the 70m mark quite easily and this will be his target at the Paralympics this year as well.
Avani Lekhara
World No 5, Avani Lekhara is competing in the women's 10m air rifle standing SH1 event and the Women's 50m air rifle 3 position event individual and mixed team events.
Avani has previously won a silver at the IPC World Shooting Cup in 2017 and 2019 and has seen a meteoric rise in her rankings as well. Despite her rank, Avani has been consistent at the world stage over the years and will be aiming to continue her brilliant shooting at the Paralympics as well.
Sundar Singh Gurjar
Another multiple time medal winner, Sundar Singh Gurjar is gunning for a medal unlike any other individual at the Paralympics this year. His unfortunate mishap at the 2016 Paralympics is now behind him as the F46 IPC Grand Prix gold medallist has made great strides in the past 5 years to get to where he is.
His mental battle is truly a testament to what he is capable of and the evidence is when he came back a year after Rio 2016 to win a gold medal in the Javelin F-46 category at the 2017 World Para Championships.
Parul Parmar
As cliched as it sounds, age is just a number for Parul Parmar competing in the SL-4 category of badminton. She is a two time gold medal winner in the BWF World Championships and has also won Gold at the International Para Badminton Championships. She has dominated the Asian Games as well and will look to make her mark in the Paralympics this year.
Devendra Jhajaria
The javelin veteran is probably competing in his final Paralympic event. He has already won two gold medals at previous editions in 2004 and 2016.
The consistency is evident in his throws that surpass 60m and he was also a record holder in 2004 when he threw 62.15m to seal gold at Athens. He is one of the most decorated Indian Paralympians and will hoping to be a third time lucky at Tokyo 2021.
Manish Narwal, , Singhraj Adhana, Amit Saroha , Sandeep Chaudhary, , Sharad Kumar, and Shyam Sunder Swami are all medal hopefuls as well. It will be really interesting to see how several debutants fare at the Paralympics given that there has been a 5 year break from the previous edition to Tokyo 2021.
