New Delhi: The absence of star para athletes like javelin thrower Sumit Antil and discus exponent Yogesh Kathuniya came as a dampener as India began its campaign in the three-day World Para Athletics Grand Prix on a sedate note here on Tuesday.
With the Para Athletics World Championships scheduled in September, several top Indian athletes are missing the Grand Prix because “they are training as per their international schedule”, said Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) president and two-time gold-medallist javelin thrower at the Paralympic Games Devendra Jhajharia.
In the absence of several Indian and foreign para athletes, who had initially confirmed their participation but pulled out for various reasons, there were several events where the participation was a bare minimum -- in some disciplines just one athlete participated.
The men’s high jump T42 final -- for those with single above the knee amputations or a disability that is comparable -- saw just one athlete, Ramsingbhai Gobindbhai Padhiyar, competing and taking the top spot. Three others --Lokesh Mantra, Shailesh Kumar and Varun Singh Bhati -- pulled out.
In the men’s javelin throw (F33, F34) -- for those with a moderately affected movement and coordination across the whole body, or affecting part of the body which affect their movement to a high degree in the legs -- only two para athletes took part with Uzbekistan’s Oybek Egamnazarov emerging on top with a best throw of 18.05m. India’s Devershee Sachan came in second with a best of 11.34m.
In the men’s 100m (T11, T12) sprint -- near-total visual impairment -- Brazil’s Joeferson Marinho de Oliveira won the gold clocking 11.17 seconds, while Vishnu (12.39s) and Pragadeeshwara Raja Moorthy (12.94s) of India finished second and third in a three-man field. Another Indian, Ramanjee did not start.
“If I look at it from the point of an athlete, this is a very big tournament,” said Jhajharia, one of the legends of Indian para games. “Every athlete has a dream of playing for the country and that has been materialised.”
“As a PCI president, I am happy that we have been able to organise such a great event in the country,” he said.