Sumit Antil, Avani Lekhara and other key medal contenders from Indian contingent – ​​Firstpost

With just a few days left until the Paris Paralympic Games begin, the Indian contingent is hoping to win more medals than ever before.

India won more medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics alone than in all previous editions combined. India had won a total of 12 medals between the 1968 Games in Tel Aviv – when it made its Paralympic Games debut – and the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Read | India at the Paralympics: Full list of medallists

In 2021, India sent a 54-strong contingent to Tokyo that won 19 medals – 5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze. And by sending an 84-member team to Paris, the largest ever at the Paralympics, India is hoping to break the 20-medal barrier for the first time and finish among the top 20 or 15 nations in the medal table.

Ahead of the Paris Paralympics starting on Wednesday, August 28, we take a look at some of India’s key medal hopes:

Sumit Antil (Athletics)

Antil, who was selected as India’s men’s flag bearer at the Paris Games, was among India’s five gold medallists at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago and will be looking to defend his javelin throw title in Paris.

Read | India’s Paralympic Games History: Edition-wise Performances & Full List of Medallists

Antil has been in fine form since the Tokyo Paralympics, winning back-to-back gold medals at the World Championships in 2023 and 2024 as well as the Hangzhou Asian Paralympics last year.

Another gold medal would make him the second Indian to win javelin gold at the Paralympics after Devendra Jhajharia.

Avani Lekhara (Filming)

Another gold medallist at the Tokyo Games three years ago, Lekhara will be aiming for back-to-back Paralympic gold medals which will make her the first Indian para-shooter to achieve the feat.

And it’s not just a gold in the women’s R2 10m air rifle SH1, she also won a bronze in the R8 50m air rifle 3 positions SH1. Having won a medal in both events last time, Lekhara is even eyeing a double medal at the same Paralympics, which will undoubtedly cement her status as one of the greatest Indian para-athletes of all time, if not the greatest.

Sheetal Devi (Archery)

Sheetal Devi had won two gold medals at last year’s Asian Para Games in Hangzhou – in the women’s individual compound event as well as in the mixed team event with Rakesh Kumar – making her a strong favourite to become the first Indian woman to win an archery medal at the Paralympics.

Manasi Joshi (Badminton)

SL3 athlete Manasi Joshi is hoping to make the most of her first Paralympic Games appearance. The fact that she is a seven-time world championship medallist – she won gold in 2019, as well as two silver and four bronze – makes her absence from the Paralympics all the more puzzling.

India won its first Paralympic medal in badminton in Tokyo three years ago and will be hoping to make its mark in the women’s section in Paris as well.

Mona Agarwal (Filming)

Lekhara is the only Indian shooter to have won a medal at the Paralympics and Mona Agarwal will be hoping to change that in Paris when she makes her debut at the world’s biggest multi-sport event for para athletes.

Shooting star Mona Agarwal gets 🇮🇳 entry for #RouteToParis at the WSPS World Cup in New Delhi😍#ParaShooting🔫

* #NCOE Athlete Mona Agarwal wins a #Gold🥇with an exceptional score of 618 in R2 Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1, reassuring #Paris2024 Quota for India 🎉… pic.twitter.com/cC2MTybE6v

— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) March 9, 2024

Having made her international debut only last year, Agarwal had won gold in the women’s 10m air rifle SH1 category at the Paralympic Shooting World Cup in New Delhi earlier this year, finishing ahead of Lekhara who won bronze.

And it’s not just the 10m air rifle that she will be competing against Lekhara: Agarwal has also qualified for the women’s 50m air rifle 3 positions SH1 event and will be hoping to go home with two Paralympic medals around her neck.

Krishna Nagar (Badminton)

One of two players to win gold at the Tokyo Games three years ago, the other being Pramod Bhagat who was disqualified shortly before the trip to Paris, Nagar will aim to become the first Indian para badminton player to not only win a medal at two consecutive Paralympics but also stand on the top step of the podium while doing so.

“Right now I am confident and my game has improved since then. So I am confident that I can win another medal and my target is to do my best,” Nagar said. First message in an exclusive conversation shortly before the Paralympic Games.

Harvinder Singh (archery)

Harvinder had won India’s first medal in archery at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago by clinching bronze in the men’s individual recurve open category. Having also qualified for the Paris Games, Harvinder will be looking to upgrade his medal to gold or silver.

Harvinder won bronze in the men’s recurve doubles event at the Asian Paralympic Games in Hangzhou last year. He also won bronze at the World Archery 2024 Oceania Para Grand Prix and the Para Archery World Rankings in Australia and the Czech Republic, respectively, earlier this summer.

Manish Narwal (Shooting)

Narwal, one of India’s five gold medallists at the Tokyo Paralympics and the second shooter along with Lekhara, will be aiming to win a second consecutive gold medal at the Paralympics.

Narwal, who was awarded the Khel Ratna Award in 2021, will compete in the 10m air pistol SH1 category alongside Rudransh Khandelwal in Paris after winning gold in the P4 50m mixed pistol SH1 event in Tokyo. He had won bronze in the 10m air pistol event in Hangzhou at the Asian Paralympics last year.