Tokyo Paralympics: India's para-badminton coach promises to script history with 5 medals

With Tokyo Olympics 2020 dawn and dusted, fans around the world are eagerly waiting for the Paralympics. India has already sent a 54 member Indian contingent participating at the Tokyo Paralympics, which will start from August 24. During a press conference on Saturday, Indian para-badminton coach Gaurav Khanna promised that India will win at least five medals, including three gold at the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics. Notably, India's best performance at the Paralympics came in the 2016 Rio Games with two gold, one silver, and one bronze medal. 

Badminton will make its debut at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo and India have some of the brightest medal prospects like world No.1 Pramod Bhagat (SL3), Krishna Nagar (SH6) and Tarun Dhillon (SL4) in their ranks. The experienced Parul Parmar and the young Palak Kohli (SL3-SU5) will carry high hopes of returning with a medal in the women's category.
The team also comprises Suhas L. Yathiraj (SL4) and Manoj Sarkar (SL3), who qualified after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) granted two bipartite quotas to the country.

"We have a very strong team representing the country at the Paralympics. Out of the six best players of the world selected for the Paralympics, two are Indians. Two from SL3 and two from SL4 category in men's singles. So I am pretty sure our players will bring medals and a realistic expectation will be a minimum of five medals. We are going to get five medals, including three golds, for the country," Khanna, a Dronacharya awardee, said during the press conference.

On Thursday, a 54-member Indian team for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics was given a warm send-off by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and the national governing body. India will compete in nine sport. 

India's Paralympics performance in the past

India achieved its best-ever performance at the Paralympic Games in the 2016 Rio Games with two gold, one silver and one bronze medal. The team has some of the brightest medal prospects like Devendra Jhajharia, seeking his third Paralympics gold (after 2004 and 2016) in F-46 javelin throw, Mariyappan Thangavelu (T-63 high jump) and world champion Sandeep Choudhary (F-64 javelin throw). India will be competing in nine sports. Mariyappan, who had won a gold in the last edition in Rio, will be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent during the opening ceremony on August 24. The Tokyo Paralympics will end on September 5. The Tokyo-bound players were part of the event virtually as they are in a strict bio-bubble.

PCI president Deepa Malik, who herself had won a silver medal in shot put at Rio 2016 Games, said, "The games will not be the same again after Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. We are going to see a record haul of medals as our athletes are in prime form." PCI secretary general Gursharan Singh will be the chef de mission of the Indian team. Badminton will make its debut at the Paralympic Games, which will feature as many as seven Indian shuttlers. 

Indian fans can catch all the Live action of the country's para-athletes on Eurosports and DD Sports. PCI has awarded the rights to broadcast the Paralympics live to Eurosport India. India will start its campaign on August 27, with men's and women's archery events.

Image Credits: Facebook-India In Sports/AP