Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], October 18 (ANI): Indian para-athletes Pramod Bhagat and Simran Sharma will function flag-bearers on the fifth Asian Para Video games 2026, with Simran changing Bhavina Patel following a choice to prioritise the latter’s relaxation and restoration forward of her quarter-final match scheduled for October 19.
The choice has been taken to make sure that Bhavina, a wheelchair athlete, has adequate time to relaxation and put together for her essential quarter-final. The journey to and from the venue takes practically six hours, which might be bodily demanding and go away her with restricted time to get better forward of the match, as per a press launch from the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI).
Explaining the choice, Satyanarayana, Head Coach of Para Athletics, mentioned, “Bhavina has her quarter-final match tomorrow, October 19, and it’s important that she will get enough relaxation and restoration forward of this significant contest. As a wheelchair athlete, travelling to and from the venue takes practically six hours, which might be demanding and go away her with restricted time to get better. Retaining her well-being and competitors schedule in thoughts, we felt it was essential to make this alteration. Our precedence is to make sure that our athletes get the remainder they want and are absolutely ready to offer their finest after they compete.”
Pramod Bhagat and Simran Sharma will tackle the honour of flag bearers, representing the dedication, resilience and sporting spirit of Indian athletes. The choice underscores the significance of placing athletes’ well-being first and making certain that ceremonial duties don’t compromise their preparation and efficiency.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports activities (MYAS) has cleared 168 athletes for the upcoming fifth Asian Para Video games 2026, to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. A complete contingent of 281 members has been cleared, comprising 168 athletes, 98 group officers/supporting employees and 15 contingent employees.
The contingent measurement is considerably smaller on this version when in comparison with the earlier version held in Hangzhou, China, in 2023, the place India fielded 303 athletes. This version of the Para Asian Video games will likely be held from October 18 to 24.
The sharp drop within the contingent measurement is owing to the absence of disciplines resembling Blind Chess, Para-Rowing and Para-Canoeing by which India had fielded athletes, in addition to the strict quota restrictions by the Organising Committee in lots of sporting disciplines. In para athletics, the biggest contingent that India fielded final time, of 123 athletes, the quota restrictions have introduced down the quantity to 62 athletes, as per a press launch. Of the 168 athletes, 112 are male and 56 are feminine, and they’re going to compete throughout 11 disciplines.
India will likely be heading into the Aichi-Nagoya three years after their best-ever Asian Para Video games marketing campaign, having clinched 111 medals, together with 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze at Hangzhou. The tally was manner above India’s earlier better of 72 medals from the 2018 version in Jakarta.
Para athletics served as the most important contributor to the tally again in 2023, with 55 medals, together with 18 gold medals and is as soon as once more anticipated to gentle up the gang in Japan. Two-time Paralympic champion Sumit Antil will likely be aiming to seal his legacy as one of many nation’s all-time greats by defending his males’s javelin throw F64 title.
Different superstars from para-sports resembling Paralympic champions Dharambir Nain, Praveen Kumar and Navdeep Singh are additionally within the para athletics squad together with Paralympic medalists Preethi Pal, Deepthi Jeevanji, Nishad Kumar, Sachin Sarjerao Khilari and Hokato Hotozhe Sema, with all of them robust medal contenders in their very own proper.
India will even be fielding a robust para-shooting contingent led by Avani Lekhara, a two-time Paralympic champion and the defending Asian Para Video games champion within the girls’s 10m air rifle class.
A distinguished title in para archery will likely be 19-year-old Sheetal Devi, who will return to defend her girls’s compound title after securing two medals within the 2023 version, together with one within the blended group. She additionally gained a silver within the doubles occasion.
Paralympic champion Nitesh Kumar and Pramod Bhagat will spearhead a robust para-badminton group that includes skills like Paralympic silver medallists Suhas Yathiraj and Thulasimathi Murugesan and bronze medallist Nithya Sre Sumathy Sivan.
India’s success has risen considerably on the Asian Para Video games lately. From 14 medals at Guangzhou 2010, 33 at Incheon 2014 and 72 at Jakarta 2018, crossing the 100-medal mark three years again made for a monumental second in Indian sports activities.
The competitions will likely be staged throughout 19 venues, with the Nagoya Metropolis Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium serving as the first area. (ANI)
