Defending champion Mariyappan Thangavelu leads India’s first batch of para-athletes to Tokyo Paralympics

India’s first batch of para-athletes led by Mariyappan Thangavelu, left for the Tokyo Paralympics late on Tuesday night. Thangavelu is the defending champion in the high jump and is also India’s flag bearer at the sporting extravaganza.

The first batch of the contingent comprised of nine members, including three para-athletes and six support staff including discus thrower Vinod Kumar and men’s javelin thrower Tek Chand. The team will reach Tokyo on August 19 (Thursday).

Before they left for Japan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the contingent via video conference. He praised the para-athletes for overcoming so many obstacles in life and making it to the Tokyo Paralympics.

“We have to keep on improving our ways and systems to develop a sports culture in India, shed fears of earlier generations,” he said.

The Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) President Deepa Malik thanked PM Modi for the encouragement and wished the Indian team luck for their endeavors in Tokyo.

“I am grateful to the Prime Minister for the cheerful send-off this morning, he has motivated the athletes who are leaving for Tokyo and filled them with warmth and joy. I would also like to thank the Sports Ministry, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the federations for their continued support, especially during this tough time of the COVID 19 pandemic when we didn’t know what will happen and if the Tokyo Paralympics will take place or not,” she said.

Malik added:

“Without their constant help and support, we would not have been able to help the athletes train during the tough times and get them ready for the global event. I am sure the athletes will do their absolute best to keep the Indian flag flying high at Tokyo Paralympics.”

This is India’s largest-ever contingent to the Tokyo Paralympics, with 54 athletes contesting across nine sporting disciplines. The mega event will kick off on 24th August 2021 and will continue until 5th September 2021.

Tokyo Paralympics India Schedule

Tokyo Paralympics -- Archery

Friday, August 27

Men’s Recurve Individual Open - Harvinder Singh, Vivek Chikara

Men’s Compound Individual Open - Rakesh Kumar, Shyam Sundar Swami

Women’s Compound Individual Open - Jyoti Baliyan

Compound Mixed Team Open - Jyoti Baliyan & TBC

Tokyo Paralympics -- Badminton

Wednesday, September 1

Men’s Singles SL3 - Pramod Bhagat, Manoj Sarkar

Women’s Singles SU5 - Palak Kohli

Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5 - Pramod Bhagat & Palak Kohli

Thursday, September 2

Men’s Singles SL4 - Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj, Tarun Dhillon

Men’s Singles SS6 - Krishna Nagar

Women’s Singles SL4 - Parul Parmar

Women’s Doubles SL3-SU5 - Parul Parmar & Palak Kohli

Tokyo Paralympics -- Para Canoeing

Thursday, September 2

Women’s VL2 - Prachi Yadav

Tokyo Paralympics -- Powerlifting

Friday, August 27

Men’s 65kg - Jaideep Deswal

Women’s 50kg - Sakina Khatun

Swimming

Friday, August 27

200 Individual Medley SM7 - Suyash Jadhav

Friday, September 3

50m Butterfly S7 - Suyash Jadhav, Niranjan Mukundan

Tokyo Paralympics -- Table Tennis

Wednesday, August 25

Individual C3 - Sonalben Madhubhai Patel

Individual C4 - Bhavina Hasmukhbhai Patel

Tokyo Paralympics -- Taekwondo

Thursday, September 2

Women’s K44 -49kg - Aruna Tanwar

Tokyo Paralympics -- Shooting

Monday, August 30

Men’s R1 – 10 m air rifle standing SH1 - Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar, Deepak Saini

Women’s R2 – 10 m air rifle SH1 - Avani Lekhara

Tuesday, August 31

Men’s P1 – 10 m air pistol SH1 - Manish Narwal, Deepender Singh, Singhraj

Women’s P2 – 10 m air pistol SH1 - Rubina Francis

Wednesday, September 1

Mixed R3 – 10 m air rifle prone SH1 - Deepak Saini, Sidhartha Babu & Avani Lekhara

Thursday, September 2

Mixed P3 - 25 m pistol SH1 - Akash & Rahul Jakhar

Friday, September 3

Men’s R7 - 50 m rifle 3 positions SH1 - Deepak Saini

Women’s R8 – 50 m rifle 3 positions SH1 - Avani Lekhara

Saturday, September 4

Mixed P4 – 50 m pistol SH1 - Akash, Manish Narwal & Singhraj

Sunday, September 5

Mixed R6 – 50 m rifle prone SH1 - Deepak Saini, Avani Lekhara & Sidhartha Babu

Tokyo Paralympics -- Athletics

Saturday, August 28

Men’s Javelin Throw F57 - Ranjeet Bhati

Sunday, August 29

Men’s Discus Throw F52 - Vinod Kumar

Men’s High Jump T47 - Nishad Kumar, Ram Pal

Monday, August 30

Men’s Discus Throw F56 - Yogesh Kathuniya

Men’s Javelin Throw F46 - Sundar Singh Gurjar, Ajeet Singh, Devendra Jhajharia

Men’s Javelin Throw F64 - Sumit Antil, Sandeep Choudhary

Tuesday, August 31

Men’s High Jump T63 - Sharad Kumar, Mariyappan Thangavelu, Varun Singh Bhati

Women’s 100m T13 - Simran

Women’s Shot Put F34 - Bhagyashri Madavrao Jadhav

Wednesday, September 1

Men’s Club Throw F51 - Dharambir Nain, Amit Kumar Saroha

Thursday, September 2

Men’s Shot Put F35 - Arvind Malik

Friday, September 3

Men’s High Jump T64 - Praveen Kumar

Men’s Javelin Throw F54 - Tek Chand

Men’s Shot Put F57 - Soman Rana

Women’s Club Throw F51 - Ekta Bhyan, Kashish Lakra

Saturday, September 4

Men’s Javelin Throw F41 - Navdeep Singh