Tokyo Paralympics: Team India eyes repeating Olympics heroics; check top medal prospects

Following the heroic feat of Indian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics games, the Indian Para athletes will look to make the country proud yet again as they are set to take part in the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics 2020. India will be sending a contingent of as many as 54 athletes competing in nine sports at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. This is the biggest-ever contingent that India has sent to any Paralympics. Here is a list of the top medal contenders for India:

1. Devendra Jhajharia (Athletics)

He is set to lead the Athletics contingent one more time in Tokyo. The 40-year-old has won two Paralympic gold medals in 2004 and 2016 in Javelin throw and is the only Indian with two gold medals at the Paralympics. And what makes him a very high hope for winning a medal this time around is that he broke his own world record of 65.71 in July this year at the selection trials.

2. Pramod Bhagat (Badminton)

One of the biggest hopes for coming home with a medal is from para-badminton in the form of Pramod Bhagat, world number 1 in the SL3 category. For players with impairment in one/both legs and poor walking/running balance, he is the most reputed player for India. He also won two gold medals at the 2019 Para World Championships.

3. Krishna Nagar (Badminton)

Krishna Nagar is ranked number 2 in the SH6, players with short stature.

4. Tarun Dhillon (Badminton)

Tarun Dhillon is also ranked number 2 but in the SL4, impairment in one/both legs and minimal impairment in walking/running balance.

5. Manish Narwal (Shooting)

There are 10 shooters traveling with India’s shooting contingent for the Paralympic Games. The brightest hope among them is 19-year-old Manish Narwal in the SH1 category, upper and/or lower limb impairment, in the men’s 10m air pistol event.

6. Mariyappan Thangavelu (High jump)

He won the gold medal at the Rio Paralympics 2016 in the men's high jump T-42 category making him another medal hopeful.

Opening ceremony of the Tokyo Paralympics

The Tokyo Paralympics 2020 will take place from August 24 to September 5. Eleven Indian members will participate in the opening ceremony: six officials from the Indian contingent and five athletes.

Even though there is no cap on the number of athletes participating in the opening ceremony, only five will participate from India. The other six members of the Indian contingent will be officials as confirmed by chef de mission Gursharan Singh on Sunday. Only five athletes will participate as only seven Indian participants have reached Tokyo so far. Of those seven athletes, two table tennis players, Sonal Patel and Bhavina Patel, have to compete on Wednesday. As a result, they will not be a part of the ceremony in which Japanese Emperor Naruhito will declare the Games Open.

(Image Credits: @bhavina59068010/ @devjhajharia/ @pramodbhagat83 - Twitter)