Late additions: Sports Ministry approves two Boccia players for Para Asian Games

New Delhi, The Sports Ministry has approved the inclusion of two Boccia athletes in the Indian contingent for the Aichi-Nagoya Para Asian Games, taking the total number of athletes to 168 for the quadrennial showpiece beginning October 18.

Boccia is a precision sport in which players try to throw, kick, or use a ramp to propel six red or six blue leather balls as close as possible to a white target called the jack. The colour of balls is allotted to the competitors after a coin toss and it is played by athletes with disabilities affecting motor skills.

Sachin Chamaria and Anjali Devi have been given the go ahead for the Boccia individual events in a late addition to the contingent. They will have one coach Gurpreet Singh and two ramp operators to assist them during the competition.

The Indian contingent will be supported by 113 officials, including coaches, support staff, a medical team and national Paralympic Committee officials. The overall contingent size has increased to 281 following the late approvals.

However, it is significantly smaller compared to the previous Games held in Hangzhou, China in 2023, where India fielded 303 athletes.

The drop in numbers is being attributed to the absence of disciplines such as Blind Chess, Para-Rowing and Para-Canoeing in which India had fielded athletes, as well as the "strict quota restrictions" by the Organising Committee in many sporting disciplines.

In para athletics, for which India fielded a whopping 123 athletes in Hangzhou, the quota restrictions have brought down the number to 62 this time.

Of the 168 athletes, 112 are male and 56 are female, and they will compete across 11 disciplines.

India had won 108 medals in the previous edition of the Para Asian Games, including 27 gold, 32 silver and 49 bronze.

Athletics made the highest contribution to the tally with 53 medals, including 17 gold, followed by badminton, which added 21 medals to the overall haul.

It was the first time that the country crossed the 100-medal mark, making it India's best ever performance.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.