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          Avani Lekhara to Sumit Antil, India's top gold medal prospects at Paralympics 2024

          Sumit Antil and Avani Lekhara ESPN
          • Sunaadh Sagar
          Aug 28, 2024, 05:00 PM

          India are sending a record 84 athletes to the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, and naturally hopes are high that they can recreate the magic of Tokyo, where India won a record 19 medals.

          Five of those 19 were gold, and it's not far-fetched to imagine that India can repeat or even better that feat. This hope is founded on the back of a record 111-medal haul at the Para Asian Games last year as well as bountiful medals at the World Championships.

          India may have only won 9 gold medals at the Paralympics in their history, but there are expectations that the nation could match that tally in Paris itself. Here are the nation's best gold medal prospects.

          Sumit Antil

          Event: Men's javelin throw F64 (2nd September)

          India's most successful javelin thrower, Sumit Antil has a Paralympic gold medal (Tokyo 2020), two World Championship golds (2023 and 2024) and the Para Asian Games gold medal to his name. He also holds the world record in the men's javelin throw F64 category - a feat he has bettered multiple times over the last few years (including thrice in Tokyo), which currently stands at 73.29m (at the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou).

          A year after the amputation of his left-leg as a 17-year-old post a motorcycle accident in 2015, Antil took up javelin with almost immediate success. Given his pedigree, his aim in Paris is not just to win gold, but to do so in a record-breaking manner, saying "My long-term goal is to achieve a distance of 80m but at the Paris Paralympics, I will try to win gold with an effort of 75m."

          Avani Lekhara

          Events: Shooting - R2 - women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1, R3 - mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 and R8 - women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 (30th August - 3rd September)

          Before Manu Bhaker, there was Avani Lekhara who stole the spotlight at the Tokyo Paralympics with a pair of medals (gold and bronze) - becoming the first Indian woman to win gold at the Paralympics and the first woman multi-medallist in the nation's Paralympics history. She went on to win two golds and a silver in subsequent World Cups, as well as gold in the Para Asian Games.

          A car accident when she was 11 years old left Lekhara paralysed waist-down and confined to a wheelchair, but two years later she took up the sport of shooting. Aged 19, she achieved success in her debut Paralympics and three years on, she's aiming for gold once more, describing herself as "more mature in my technique".

          There's competition from fellow Indians in her category as well as recovery from a gall-bladder surgery in March to consider, but one wouldn't bet against her standing atop the podium in Paris.

          Manish Narwal

          Events: P1 - 10m pistol SH1 (30th August)

          Manish Narwal won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics in the P4 mixed 50m pistol SH1 event having missed out on a medal in the P1 men's 10m pistol event despite topping qualification. At Paris, he won't feature in the 50m pistol event, focusing on the 10m pistol event alone, alongside teenage prodigy Rudransh Khandelwal. Ranked fourth in the world, he followed up his Tokyo gold with bronze in the 10m pistol event at the Para Asian Games.

          Narwal was born with congenital impairment in his right arm and gave up childhood dreams of becoming a footballer to take up shooting. He began breaking world records as a junior before his success in Tokyo aged 19. He comes into Paris in good form, on the back of two silvers at the Para Shooting World Cup and is one of the favourites to defend his gold.

          Krishna Nagar

          Event: Badminton - Men's Singles SH6 (30th August - 2nd September)

          The sole badminton player defending the two golds from Tokyo (Pramod Bhagat is missing due to a doping suspension brought about by a whereabouts failure), Krishna Nagar is one of India's brightest medal hopes in Paris. Especially since he comes into the tournament as the reigning world champion, winning gold in Thailand earlier this year, despite dealing with the demise of his mother post Tokyo in addition to an ankle injury.

          "I hope that everything will be fine in Paris and I will try to win gold for India again. I will give it my all to defend my gold from Tokyo. Preparations went well, I feel positive and will look to play safe," he said ahead of departing to Paris. Winning gold in Paris will add to Krishna's legend, adding to his four Worlds medals (including doubles) and three Para Asian Games medals.

          Sheetal Devi

          Event: Archery - Women's Individual Compound Open and Mixed Team Compound Open (29th August - 2nd September)

          Capturing the nation's eyeballs when images of the armless archer shooting a compound bow with her feet on her way to two gold medals and a silver medal at the Para Asian Games went viral, Sheetal Devi's rise has been meteoric. It was made all the more incredible by her age - she was only 16 when she became the first and only para-archery champion without upper limbs.

          Sheetal was born without upper limbs - a rare condition called phocomelia and took up archery in 2019. Within 11 months, she was medalling at the Para Asiad and went on to be conferred the Arjuna Award. She's even earned medals when competing in non-para events domestically, thus raising hopes that she can win gold in Paris.

          Sundar Singh Gurjar

          Event: Men's javelin throw - F46 (3rd September)

          Sundar Singh Gurjar's Paralympic career began with trauma, as being 52 seconds late to the call room saw him disqualified in Rio. But he went on to overcome that disappointment with bronze in Tokyo.

          The javelin thrower has gone from strength to strength and cemented his rise with a world record throw of 68.60m to win gold at the Para Asian Games last year. With two world championships gold medals to his name, hopes are high that Gurjar, who also has the distinction of competing in the discus and shot-put in additional to javelin throw at the Worlds, can win gold in Paris with another world record effort.

          Mona Agarwal

          Events: Shooting - R2 - women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1, R6 - mixed 50m Rifle Prone, R8 - women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions SH1 (30th August - 5th September)

          Aged 37, Mona took to shooting late in life as the polio-stricken athlete tried her hand at multiple sports like shot-put, discus, javelin and even volleyball, winning golds domestically. However, she took up shooting in December 2021, and made an immediate impact, making her international debut in 2023.

          She's been on quite the tear, beating out Avani Lekhara to the top spot in domestic qualifying, as well as winning two golds at the Para World Cups in March and then again in April. Hopefully, she'll carry on her form into her three events at the Paralympics in Paris, where gold beckons.

          Bhavina Patel

          Event: Para table tennis: Women's Singles - WS4 and Women's Doubles - WD10 (31st August - 7th September)

          The 37-year-old has had a storied career in para table tennis, becoming the first Indian to win a Paralympic medal in TT at Tokyo, bagging a silver in her division (women's singles C4). She followed that up with gold at the 2022 Para Commonwealth Games and bronze in the 2022 Para Asian Games the next year.

          Standing in Bhavina's path to gold in Paris is of course, the competition from China, but she's not overly awed, saying "Chinese players are humans and so are we. China does not matter to me, even during the Tokyo edition I had beaten a Chinese player so there's no pressure on me to face them. I have changed my tactics according to them so I will deploy my best plans against them on the day."

          Rudransh Khandelwal

          Event: P1 - 10m pistol SH1, P4 - Mixed 50m pistol SH1

          Despite being 17 years old, Rudransh Khandelwal has seen plenty of tough times in life. After losing his left leg aged 8, the shooting prodigy found it tough to break through but ultimately saw his patience pay off, saying "For seven years, I missed the national squad by fraction of a point. But in 2022, I switched to 50m pistol at the insistence of my coach and life took an unlikely turn... it turned upside down. Cut to 2022, I got selected in the national squad and played my first World Cup. In my second World Cup, I got four gold medals with three world records. Then came the World Championship where I won the Paralympic Games quota, following which I also won two silver medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou."

          Now the world No 1 in 50m pistol SH1, the expectation is that Rudransh will return with gold from Paris.

          Suhas Yathiraj

          Event: Badminton - Men's Singles SL4 (29th August - 2nd September)

          An IAS officer, Suhas won silver in Tokyo in the men's singles SL4 category, which capped off his rise since bursting onto the scene internationally with a gold at the 2016 Para Asian Championships. A bronze at the 2018 Para Asian Games in Jakarta, was followed by his heroics in Tokyo. He then went on to win gold at the 2022 Para Asiad in Hangzhou last year, before a first World Championship gold in Thailand earlier this year.

          He's now the reigning world No 1 in his category, and the expectation is that he'll underline that with gold in Paris, as a 41-year-old.

          Deepthi Jeevanji

          Event: Women's 400m - T20

          Deepthi initially competed in non-para events as a junior, winning bronze at the national and Asian level, before making the switch to para-sports. She burst onto the scene with gold at the 2022 Para Asian Games in Hangzhou last year with an Asian record of 56.69 seconds.

          She bettered that feat in qualifying for the Para Worlds final in 2024 with a time of 56.18s and then proceeded to smash that time in the final, winning gold with a world record 55.07 seconds. Should she repeat her performance in her debut Paralympics, she could very well walk away with a gold from Paris.

          Sachin Khilari

          Event: Men's shot-put - F46 (4th September)

          An athlete named Sachin Khilari in India is truly nominative determinism at its finest, but it doesn't stop there - he has the attitude to match. When asked about the greater competition at the Paralympics resulting in pressure on his debut, he said "The pressure is on them to compete against me as I consider myself to be the best."

          The 34-year-old has been blossoming of late, with gold at the 2023 and 2024 Worlds - in which he bettered his own Asian record. He's the in-form athlete in his category going into the Paralympics and should he perform to his best, a gold ought to be within his reach.

          Honourable mentions

          It's a testament to India's rise in para-sports that there are truly multiple medal contenders, not necessarily that of gold. Here's a few that could spring a surprise and win gold:

          Simran Sharma, who will be competing in the women's 100m and 200m T12 sprints, won gold at the Para World Championships earlier this year, and hopes are that she can repeat the feat.

          Mariappan Thangavelu is already a Paralympics medal winner in the men's high jump T63 and may rise to the top.

          Harvinder Singh in the men's recurve para-archery section has specialised in bronze medals in the Paralympics (Tokyo), Para Asiad (Hangzhou) and Worlds, but hopes are that he can upgrade the colour.

          Nishad Kumar won silver in Tokyo in the men's high jump T47, and also has two Worlds silvers - he'll be hoping to win his first gold in the Paralympics.

          Bhagyashri Jadhav won silver in women's shot put F34 at the Para Asian Games, and will be India's flag-bearer in the opening ceremony, hoping to make it a golden time in Paris.

          Yogesh Kathuniya has a silver from the Tokyo Paralympics, and silvers in the 2023 and 2024 Worlds, but the men's discus (F56) thrower will be hoping to go one better in Paris.

          Manasi Joshi is making her Paralympics debut in para-badminton as a seven-time Worlds medallist, so the hopes are that experience will carry her to gold.