It was a disappointing day for India at the quadrennial event.
The Tokyo Paralympics campaign has already been a success story for the Indian contingent, as they have touched double digits in the medals tally. India till now, has two gold medals, five silvers and three bronze medals.
Day 8 ended on a very high note for India as Mariyappan Thangavelu bagged the silver medal, while Sharad Kumar brought home the bronze. The two high jumpers took the tally to double digits and have inspired other para-athletes to raise their level and make the country proud on such a global stage.
However, Day 9 was lukewarm for the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Paralympics:
Shooting
India’s golden girl, Avani Lekhara was in action this morning, along with Deepak and Siddhartha Babu for the shooting Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 Qualification event at the Tokyo Paralympics. The Indian trio failed to reach the final round, as Avani could only manage to finish in the 27th spot with a score of 629.7. Siddhartha Babu finished 40th with a score of 625.5, while Deepak came 43rd with 624.9 points.
Swimming
In swimming, India’s sole representative at the Tokyo Paralympics was Suyash Yadav. The Men’s 100m Breaststroke is not his stronghold but still, he tried his best. The Indian swimmer was disqualified for violating the World para Swimming rule number 11.4.1, where only a single butterfly kick is permitted prior to the breaststroke or even after every turn.
The 27-year-old was found to have performed more than one permitted butterfly kick. It is unfortunate for the Indian swimmer, but it was not his favoured event.
Badminton
India’s badminton pair of Palak Kohli and Pramod Bhagat were in action as the sport made its debut at the Tokyo Paralympics. The Indian pair were up against Faustine Noel and Lucas Mazur. The French pair came into the opening match as firm favourites, as they were the second seeds.
The French pair started as favourites but the Bhagat-Kohli pair did come back in the game, as they won it to make the scores level. However, the French pair showed their class in the decider and bagged the opening match. The Indian pair lost 9-21, 21-15, 19-21.
It was a double blow for young Palak Kohli as she lost her women’s singles clash against Japan’s Ayako Suzuki. The gulf in class was evident, but the Indian kept fighting. Palak was outclassed in the first game as she lost 21-6 against the World No. 1. Although she came back strongly in the second, Ayako was way too strong as she wrapped up the game 21-7 and also the match.
A rare disappointing day at the Tokyo Paralympics ended with an all-Indian badminton clash between the World No. 1 Pramod Bhagat and Manoj Sarkar in the Men’s Singles. Bhagat started off brilliantly, doing complete justice to his ranking as he won the first game 21-10. However, Manoj found his feet in the second game to win 23-21. But, Bhagat came back strongly to obliterate Manoj 21-9 in the final game, to clinch the match.
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Athletics
In athletics, the Indian duo of Amit Kumar Saroha and his pupil Dharambir were in action at the Men’s Club throw event. Amit Saroha went first and in his second attempt, he achieved a distance of 27.77, which was his season-best mark. He was in medal contention for a long time until the last three para-athletes leapfrogged him.
Saroha could only manage a fifth-place finish, but it was a very credible effort from the 36-year-old. However, it was not the outing that Dharambir expected, as he finished last among eight para-athletes. He could only register a single throw of 25.59m in his fifth attempt, while other throws were all fouls.
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