Mariyappan Thangavelu, Sharad Kumar, Singhraj Adhana Take India’s Medal Tally at Tokyo Paralympics to Ten
Mariyappan Thangavelu and Sharad Kumar, both employed as Sports Authority of India coaches, won silver and bronze medals respectively at the Men’s High Jump T63 final on Tuesday.
This is Mariyappan’s second medal from the Paralympic Games; in Rio 2016, he won the gold. The Indian medal tally reached 10 following the day’s events. Earlier, Singhraj Adhana won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol SH1 event. Mariyappan’s highest jump of 1.86m in the final has been a Season Best score. Sharad also finished with a Season Best jump of 1.83m en route to his Bronze medal. Both are classified under T42 category, i.e. athletes have one or more impairment types affecting hip and/or knee function in one or both limbs and with activity limitations. Tamil Nadu-based para athlete Mariyappan has had been training at the SAI centre in Bangalore under coach Satyanarayana prior to the Tokyo Paralympics.
He won the Padma Shri and the Arjuna Awards in 2017 as well as the Khel Ratna in 2021. Facilitated by the Government of India, Mariyappan has competed in five international competitions to the tune of Rs 13.04 Lakh from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and Rs 27.79 Lakh from the Annual Calendar for Training and Competition (ACTC).
Sharad Kumar, meanwhile, has had been training in Ukraine for over two years prior to the Tokyo Paralympics under foreign coach Nikitin Yevhen at full cost to the Government of India, to the tune of Rs 80.75 Lakh from TOPS and Rs 21.72 Lakh from ACTC. The Govt also facilitated in assisting him in getting back to India from Ukraine during the peak of Covid-19 and also streamlining a smooth visa process. Sharad won the gold medal at the Asian Para Games 2018 and the Silver in World Para Athletics Championship 2019.
Haryana-based shooter Singhraj, who won the bronze with a total of 216.8 points, has also been assisted by the Govt in terms of competing internationally as well as financial assistance in procurement of air pistol and engagement of personal coach. The TOPS funding for him amounts to Rs 18.65 Lakh and Rs 36.65 Lakh from the ACTC.
In other results, shooter Manish Narwal, who topped the qualifications with 575 in the same event as Adhana, was eliminated in the seventh-place when it mattered the most.
shooter Rubina Francis finished seventh in the women’s 10m air pistol SH1 final.
The 22-year-old from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh had set the world record in the finals of the World Cup in Lima, Peru in June which had made her a strong medal contender here.
The Indian women’s table tennis team, including women’s singles silver-winner Bhavinaben Patel, was outclassed 0-2 by China in the Class 4-5 quarterfinal.
Bhavina lost 0-3 (4-11 7-11 6-11) to Ying Zhou for the third time in the competition. The Chinese had also beaten her in the singles final.
The Indian challenge in the compound men’s open archery also ended after Rakesh Kumar lost to former world champion Xinliang Ai of China in a tight quarterfinal battle.
The third-seeded Rakesh, who had shot the best Indian qualifying score of 699 out of a possible 720 in the ranking round, found the going tough against the 2016 Olympics mixed open champion to lose by two points (143-145) at the Yumenoshima Park here.
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