PCI Chief Devendra Jhajharia is expecting for better performance in Paralympics this time

Olympics just ended few days ago. India placed in 71^st position with 6 medals in total. Among them are 5 bronze and 1 silver. Now it is time for them to compete in Paralympics in Paris.

According to Devendra Jhajharia, President of Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) said that this time India aims to finish in top 20. “There cannot be a happier moment for an athlete and the country when the national flag goes up and the national anthem is played”, said two time Paralympics Gold Medalist and current President of Paralympics Committee of India (PCI), Devendra Jhajharia.

India had not won the Paralympics medal after 1984 until the 2004 Athens Paralympics. Jhajharia then ends the India’s medal drought and win a gold medal in men’s javelin throw F44/46 event and also set a world record.

“Eighty Four Para-athletes are going to Paris this time and I can say with conviction that last time we won 19 medals, but this time we will win 25 or more. Our target is to finish in the top 20 in the medal tally so that the Paralympians can take India to new height in sports.” He added.

In Olympics India sent 117 athletes and grab only 6 medals. Out of them there were many 4^th positions among the athletes which were heartbreaking for the countrymen. Most importantly the case related to Vinesh Phogat was very much controversial for the nation.

But this time India send 77 team officials and 18 members, who are either medical officials or contingent officials and also making the Indian contingent 179 member strong. India will be participating in 12 sports in Paris, compared to the 9 disciplines competed in Tokyo Paralympics in 2020.

Meanwhile India won a record medal in Hangzhou Asian Para Games last year. They had won 111 medals. Also the Para athletes managed 17 medals at the World Para athletics Championship in May which also includes six Gold medals.

The PCI chief also said, “We have athletes with medal winning capacity with every sport this time. But our athletics contingent is the biggest among them and we are expecting them to win the largest number of medals for India. In my opinion, we should win 10 or more medals in athletics in Paris. Other than that our shooting, badminton and archery contingent are also excellent. So, we are expecting at least 25 medals this time.”

He claimed that his experience on the field made him understand the problems of the para-athletes better than a non-sportsman administrator. He also spoke of his steps that he has taken to ease the pressure of expectation on the Paralympians.

While the opening ceremony of Paralympics occurs on Wednesday, Jhajharia added that he would be with the athletes in Paris as India look to create history with much more medals.