Determined to return with their best-ever haul in the Paralympic Games, India’s biggest-ever contingent for the mega event will launch a historical campaign in French capital on Thursday with action starting in badminton, archery and table tennis. India’s archers, shuttlers and paddlers will get into action on the opening day of competition, getting through the preliminary rounds.
The 16-year-old para-archer Sheetal Devi will be among the first Indian participants to take the field for the Women’s Individual Compound Open Ranking Round along with compatriot Sarita.
Sheetal, the wonder archer who shoots arrows in bullseye with ease using her legs and mouth, won two gold and one silver medal in the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou last year. The archer from Kishtwar from Jammu and Kashmir will be hoping to achieve a top seeding in the Open Ranking round in women’s compound archery.
In the men’s compound archery, India’s Rakesh Kumar, who had narrowly missed a medal in the Tokyo Paralympic Games, is hoping to bag his maiden medal in Paris and will also start his campaign in the men’s individual compound open ranking round. Rakesh has won multiple medals in the Fazza Para Archery World Ranking event and is a gold medallist in the Mixed Team section in the World Para Archery Championship 2023 and also bagged a gold and two silver medals in the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.
My best wishes to all the incredible Indian athletes competing in the Paralympic Games which begin in Paris today. Keep inspiring us! 🇮🇳
— Neeraj Chopra (@Neeraj_chopra1) August 28, 2024
Also starting their campaigns will be Harvinder Singh in men’s recurve individual, Shyam Sundar Swami in men’s compound individual and Pooja in women’s recurve open individual.
The top Indian medal contenders will also get into action in para-badminton with Sukant Kadam, Manoj Sarkar, Suhas Yathiraj, Manasi Joshi, Tarun Dhillon, Nitesh Kumar, Thulasimathi Murugesan, Manish Ramdass and Palak Kohli playing their respective Group Stage matches.
India’s main hope in para-taekwondo, Aruna Tanwar will be getting onto the mat in the Women’s K44-47 kg section. She will start her campaign with a Round of 16 stage clash with Nurcihan Ekinci of Turkey. If she wins her first match, she will progress further to the quarterfinals.
While members of the 84-strong contingent gunning for gold medals at the Games, many of them may not be aware of the person who launched these billion dreams — India’s first gold medallist at the Paralympic Games.
Murlikant Rajaram Petkar made history in the 1972 Paralympic Games in Heidelberg, Germany when he won a gold medal in the Men’s 50m Freestyle 3 competition, twice improving on the World Record on his way to a golden triumph. In the final, he clocked 37.331 seconds and set a new World Record after breaking the previous record in his first race in Heidelberg.
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