India's Performance at Tokyo Paralympics 2020

Tokyo Paralympics 2020. India gave a stupendous performance and won 19 medals including 5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze, in 5 sports table tennis, athletics, shooting, archery and badminton. 

India’s previous best tally at Paralympic games was 4 – in 2016 as well as in 1948. Back in 2016, in Rio Paralympics, India sent a total of 19 athletes, and bagged 4 medals. 

In Tokyo the result is nearly 5 times greater. Acquired the 24th position among all participant countries. 

China tops this list with 207 medals, Great Britain (124 medals) and the United States (104 medals) being the third and fourth respectively.  

5 Gold:

India won 5 gold medals through –

1. Avani Lekhara, She bagged a Gold in Sport – shooting, event – R2 - Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 with a score of 249.6 points.

She began shooting in 2015, inspired by former olympic champion Abhinav Bindra. 

On 3rd September, 2021, she became the first Indian woman Paralympian to two medals in Paralympics, the other being a Bronze Medal in Women’s 50m air rifle standing event. 

Avani Lekhara (20), hails from Jaipur, Rajasthan. 

A car accident in 2012, left her with complete paraplegia. She currently studying law in Rajasthan.

2. Sumit Antil, His achievement is in Sport – Athletics, event – Men’s  Javlin Throw F64.

In 2019, he won Silver Medal at World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Italy.

Won another Silver Medal at World Para Athletics Championship, Dubai in the same year.

Sumit Antil (23) belongs to Khewra, Sonipat, Haryana. In 2015, at the age of 17, he lost his left leg in a bike accident.

 With the support of GoSports Foundation, He joined Paralympics.

3. Manish Narwal, He got a Gold in Sport – Shooting, event – P4 mixed 50m Pistol SH1.

His rank is 4th according to the World Shooting Para Sports Ranking.

In 2020 he was awarded with the Arjuna Award.

He is also supported by GoSports Foundation.

Manish Narwal (20) started pistol shooting in 2016 in Faridabad, Haryana.

4. Pramod Bhagat, He got a Gold in Sport – Badminton, event – Men’s Singles SL3 by defeating Daniel Bethell.

He achieved a number of medals in Asian Para Badminton Championship, Asian Para Games, IWAS World Games, World Championships in his entire career.

Pramod Bhagat (33) belongs to Hajipur, Bihar, currently resides in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

5. Krishna Nagar, In the last day of the Tokyo Paralympics he got a gold in Sport – Badminton, event – Men’s Singles SH6, defeating Chu Man Kai of Hong Kong.

He bagged several medals in Asian Para Games 2018 (one bronze), World Championships 2019 (one bronze and one silver).

 Krishna Nagar (22) belongs to Rajasthan.

8 Silver: 

Athletes	Sports	Events
Nishad Kumar	Athletics	Men's High Jump - T47
Mariappan Thangavelu	Athletics	Men's High Jump - T63
Parveen Kumar	Athletics	Men’s High Jump - T64
Devendra Jhajharia	Athletics	Men's Javelin Throw - F46
Yogesh Kathuniya	Athletics	Men's Discus Throw - F56
Suhas Yathiraj	Badminton	Men's Singles SL4
Singhraj Adhana	Shooting	P4 - Mixed 50m Pistol SH1
Bhavina Patel	Table Tennis	Women's Singles - Class 4

6 Bronze:

Athletes	Sports	Events
Sharad Kumar	Athletics	Men's High Jump - T63
Sundar Singh Gurjar	Athletics	Men's Javelin Throw - F46
Harvinder Singh	Archery	Men's Individual Recurve - Open
Avani Lekhara	Shooting	R8 - Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1
Singhraj Adhana	Shooting	P1 - Men's 10m Air Pistol SH1
Manoj Sarkar	Badminton	Men's Singles SL3

The Factors behind India’s Best Ever Performance in Tokyo Paralympics:

Governments’ Role:

The Government of India and the State Governments play huge roles in training of the athletes and thereby motivating them. The government of India spent almost rs. 8.2 crore on para sports from 2018-19 to 2021-22.

Sports Ministry has supported them by taking care of their expensive equipments, be it Avani Lekhara’s installation of a computerized digital target, air rifle, ammunition and accessories or Bhavina Patel’s updated practice partner robot, government has spent a heavy cost.

Athletes are also given an encouraging amount of money for further motivation.

Non-Government Organisation:

Non-Government Organisations like GoSports Foundation trained many atheletes including Sumit Antil, Manish Narwal who bagged two gold medals each.