Three weeks after India logged its best ever Asian Games tally (107) in Hangzhou, the para athletes rewrote record books with an astonishing 111 medals, making it the most successful Asian Para Games (APG) campaign in country's sporting history. India's fifth-place finish is also their best in APG, bettering the ninth-place result from the 2018 Jakarta edition.
India's previous best medal haul at APG stood at 72 medals (2018), and the 54% increase in tally is a nod to the growing might of India's para athletes. "It's a big moment in India's para sports history. A few years back, no one would have believed we can win over 100 medals, but here we are," gushed shuttler Pramod Bhagat who signed off from his fourth APG with three medals.
India zoomed past the 72-medal mark on Thursday and it was only a matter of time before the magical mark of 100 was achieved. India ended the penultimate competition day at 99 medals, poised to hit the century on Saturday. The 100th medal arrived in the men's 400m T47 event with Dilip Mahadu Gavit winning the gold medal, clocking 49.48 seconds.
Anita and Narayana Konganapalle then won a s silver in PR3 mixed doubles sculls with the timing of 8:50.71. Neeraj Yadav created a Games record in men's javelin F55 event, logging a throw of 33.69m. Compatriot Tek Chand finished third with a personal best effort of 30.36m. Five of medals in chess ensured India edged out Thailand (108) and secured a fifth place.
{{/usCountry}}Anita and Narayana Konganapalle then won a s silver in PR3 mixed doubles sculls with the timing of 8:50.71. Neeraj Yadav created a Games record in men's javelin F55 event, logging a throw of 33.69m. Compatriot Tek Chand finished third with a personal best effort of 30.36m. Five of medals in chess ensured India edged out Thailand (108) and secured a fifth place.
{{/usCountry}}"The secret of our success lies in adopting an athlete-centric scientific approach. Our para athletes now have access to best guidance and prosthetics. A lot of work has been done at the grassroots level," said Paralympic Committee of India president Deepa Malik.
Bhagat, who made his APG debut back in 2010, concurred. "Such success doesn't arrive overnight. Back in 2010, no one even noticed our performances but a lot has changed over the years. I would say Rio Paralympics of 2016 was a major landmark where Devendra Jhajharia and Mariyappan Thangavelu's gold medals really spurred us. From then, there has been a constant improvement in our performance," the 35-year-old said.
Bhagat, who had his best APG in Hangzhou, was not the lone para athlete who raised his level in China. Reigning Paralympics and world champion Sumit Antil broke his own world record en route his gold while a slew of Games records fell in athletics. In total, India's track and field para athletes broke three world records, 10 Asian records, and 14 APG records. In para archery, Indians rewrote three world records and three Asian records while in shooting, one APG record went to India.
The success has come on the back of specialsied support for the para athletes from the government. Since Tokyo Paralympics, over 64 camps foreign exposure trips were sanctioned for para athletes while over 35 camps were conducted in the run-up to the Hangzhou extravaganza. Para athletics alone accounted for 13 international exposure trips while para badminton team went on 12 such tours.
The success of athletes such as Nishad Kumar was a direct function of specialised training. The Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist, who won gold medal in men's high jump T47 event, trained in Chula Vista Elite Training Centre under foreign coach Jeremy Fischer for 230 days in the current cycle.
"We hired a number of sports scienec experts to guide our athletes. A lot of emphasis was given on training coaches too," Malik said. As per SAI, a total of 294 sports science experts currently work with para athletes, up from 64 in 2018. The SAI centres too are becoming increasingly accessible to para athletes.
"The Odisha governemnt, for example, consulted para athletes before building their new infrastructure. Over 80 new stadiums and training facilities have come up in Odisha and most of them are wheelchair accessible. These little things make a lot of difference," Bhagat said.
As of now, 23 Nation Centre of Excellence (NCOEs) are functional across the country to provide world-class training facilities and coaching to elite athletes, out of which the centres in Bengaluru, Lucknow and Delhi's Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range offer training facilities in para athletics, para archery, para Powerlifting and para shooting.
The stupensous success of para athletes also earned rich praise from the prime minister and sports minister, and much like the feliciation of the Asian Games contingemt, a grand reception is being planned for the 303-member para contingent.
"This was our biggest contingent, but the number could have been a lot more if not for some classification rules," rued Malik. "We had set a target of a minimum of 100 medals and we were very confident of breaching it. We are now determined to deliver a best ever Paralympics in Paris next year," she added.