India announces 68-member contingent for 10th Asia-Pacific Deaf Games

The 10th Asia-Pacific Deaf Games will take place in Kuala Lumpur from December 1 to 8.

A 68-member Indian team will leave for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday to compete in the prestigious Asia-Pacific Deaf Games, which is at par with Asian Games for individuals with speech and hearing impairment. The tournament, which is seen as a precursor to the Deaflympics in Japan next year, is scheduled from December 1 to 8 in Kuala Lumpur.

Team India will be competing in seven disciplines – athletics, badminton, chess, judo, table tennis, taekwondo and wrestling. A send-off ceremony was organised by Sports Authority of India (SAI) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday led by SAI Executive Director (TEAMS) Ritu Pathik.

SAI organised national camps for wrestling at NCOE Sonepat besides badminton and judo disciplines at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi from November 15 to 30. National camp for athletics, chess and table tennis was organised at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from November 21 to 30. SAI Regional Centre Lucknow conducted the camp for taekwondo on the same dates.

SAI has spent close to Rs 3 crore for the travel, accommodation, training, equipment, team kits etc. for the 92-member contingent, which includes 24 coaches, support staff and officials. Asia-Pacific Deaf Games were last held in 2015 in Taiwan, where Indians had clinched three gold and two silver medals.

The 2019 edition was cancelled due to political unrest in Hong Kong. The current edition of the tournament was scheduled to be held in October in Tehran. However, it was transferred to Malaysia due to war-like situation in Iran.

2022 Deaflympics gold medal-winning shuttler Gouranshi Sharma, who will be competing in the women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles categories, is targeting another medal in Kuala Lumpur.

“I had won gold in the World Championships in Brazil and UNICEF brand ambassador for specially-abled persons. I was recently invited to USA for a conference on people with disabilities. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) has helped deaf players a lot from organising camps to taking care of our travel expenses for the Asia-Pacific Deaf Games.

“I am extremely thankful to the govt for their support, and I am confident that all the hard work we have put in with their help will get converted into a medal,” Gouranshi told SAI Media through her interpreter.

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