India's Para Asian Games Squad Gets Bigger As Sports Ministry Clears Late Entries

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 on 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 the balls is allotted to competitors after a coin toss, and the sport 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 be supported by 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 than 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" imposed by the Organising Committee in several sporting disciplines.

In para athletics, for which India fielded 123 athletes in Hangzhou, the quota restrictions have reduced 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 won 108 medals at the previous edition of the Para Asian Games, including 27 gold, 32 silver and 49 bronze.

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

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

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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