The Paris Paralympics are seven days away. The Gamesare not just about the sport but also a celebration of the grit and determination of people who have overcome the barriers of disability and made those their special abilities. In the seven-day countdown for the showpiece event in para-sport to start, we will discuss seven athletes from the Indian contingent who can make Paris their own by reaching the podium for the first time. Some of them will be debuting in the competition.
Sachin Sarjerao Khilari: Hailing from Karagani village in Sangli district in Maharashtra, Sachin Khilari is an Indian para-athlete who competes in the shotput F46 category. With back-to-back gold medals in the Paris (2023) and Kobe Para Athletics World Championships, Khilari is in top form, aiming to finish on the highest podium strp once again in Paris, in a different competition.It will be his first time at the showpiece event.
Shailesh Kumar:With a gold in the Hangzhou Asian Para Games, the 24-year-old Bihar para-athlete competes in the high jump T63 category. With his jump of 1.82m in Hangzhou, he broke the nine-year-old record of 1.80m, held by Sharad Kumar. In the 2023 Paris Para Athletics World Championships, he won a silver medal while bettering his Asian Games record with a jump of 1.83m, a championship record. He is one of India’s brightest prospects for a medal in Paris.
Palak Kohli:She was the youngest para-badminton player at the Tokyo Paralympics, and the only one to qualify for three events, but she missed a podium finish. The 22-year-old shuttler from Jalandhar didn’t have it easy after that. She underwent a critical bone-tumour surgery, which could have ended her sporting career. She came back to the international circuit with level-3 tournaments because she lost her ranking after missing multiple tournaments for her surgery. She won a bronze medal in the SU3 Singles at the 2024 Pattaya Para-Badminton World Championships and will go for a podium finish in Paris. She is participating in the singles and the mixed doubles event with SuhasYathiraj.
Sukant Kadam:Apara-badminton star, Kadam is one of India’s top prospects for a medal at the Paris Paralympics. He rose to a career-high world ranking of 2 in singles, and 1 in Men’s Doubles with Pramod Bhagat, in June last year. He won two bronze medals each in the Hangzhou Asian Para Games and the 2024 Pattaya World Championships – singles and men’s doubles.
Deepthi Jeevanji:Hailing from Telangana, Deepthi is one of the most exciting prospects in the Paris Paralympics for India. In an exclusive chat with RevSportz, Indian Para-Athletics head coach, SattanarayanaShimoga, made a special mention about Deepthi as an athlete to look out for in the Paralympics. She won a gold medal in the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou in her pet event, the 400m run T20 category, and set a new Asian and Games Record. She clocked 55.06 secs and broke a world record at the 2024 Kobe Athletics World Championships, which won her the gold medal and a ticket for the Paris Paralympics. She was certified intellectually disabled by the National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disability, which allows her to compete as a para-athlete. She doesn’t speak much but understands her sport in the best way possible and is a top medal prospect for India in Paris.
Simran Vats:Coached by her husband Gajendra Singh, Simran is another athlete for whom national head coach Shimoga has high regard. According to Shimoga, Simran is a prospect to win a medal in the Paris Paralympics. She missed the gold medal in the Hangzhou Asian Para Games by 0.16s and clocked 12.68s in the Women’s 100m T12 to clinch the silver. In the Kobe Athletics World Championship, she was disqualified from the 100m due to a technical fault but won a gold medal in the 200m T12, clocking her personal best of 24.95s.
Manasi Joshi: The 35-year-old para-shuttler from Rajko has made it to the podium in perhaps every tournament she has played. The only medal that is yet to make her trophy cabinet is a Paralympics one, because she couldn’t participate in Tokyo.Although the sport made its debut, her pet event – SL3 Women’s Singles – was not on the schedule. Joshi, with her enormous experience on the international stage, has five World Championship medals, including a gold in Basel 2019,and 3 Asian Para Games medals. She will go all guns blazing at the Paris Paralympics to complete her medal collection.
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