SAI hosts dinner for Tokyo-bound Indian Paralympians; gives warm send-off

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday hosted dinner for the Tokyo-bound members of Indian Paralympic contingent. The dinner was held at SAI’s Jawaharlal Nehru Hostel in Delhi.

54 Indian para-athletes will be participating in the Tokyo Paralympics, which begin on August 24. This is the biggest Indian contingent at the Paralympics.

“Farewell dinner organized for #Paralympics bound contingent at SAI’s JLN Hostel, Delhi. The special dinner and cake was prepared by the Chef of the JLN Hostel for the athletes heading to Tokyo,” the SAI wrote on its official Twitter profile.

The first batch of Indian contingent, which included flag bearer Thangavelu Mariyappan, left for Tokyo on Wednesday. Along with Mariyappan, javelin thrower Tek Chand and discus thrower Vinod Kumar were also the part of the 8-member team which traveled to Tokyo.

Mariyappan is one of India’s strongest medal hopes at the Paralympics. He won the gold medal in the high jump event at the Rio Games five years ago, and will aim at securing another top podium finish in Tokyo.

India will also have medal hopes from their Para Javelin throwers led by two-time Paralympic champion Devendra Jhajharia (F46).

Reigning world champion Sundar Singh Gurjar and Ajeet Singh (also in F46), world champion and world record holder in F64 Sandeep Chaudhary and Navdeep Singh (F41) are others who would be ones to watch out for in Para Javelin.