Paralympic Games 2020: Trials to pick Indian athletics team in June

The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) will conduct national selection trials next month to select the Indian track and field team for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympic Games.

The trials will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on June 15 and 16, PCI secretary general Gursharan Singh said on Sunday.

"We will conduct the trials in June to select the national team. In case we aren't able to hold the trials due to pandemic, we will find an alternative to pick the athletes for the Paralympic Games," Singh told IANS.

The Paralympic Games are scheduled to be held from August 24 to September 5.

 

According to Singh, the International Paralympic Committee will allot 16 to 20 Tokyo Paralympic quota places to India in track and field.

"But there are more than 70 athletes who have achieved minimum qualifying scores (MQS) in their respective events and they are eligible to compete in the national trials in June," he said.

Indian athletes, said Singh, have potential to win medals in men's javelin and high jump events.

"Sumit Antil and Sandeep Chaudhary are two of the world's best javelin throwers in men's F-44 category. Recently, Antil had set a world record of 66.70 meters at the national para-athletics championships in Bengaluru. Chaudhary had also won 2019 World Para Athletics Championships gold in Doha. We hope both are able to maintain good form in the future," he said.

India's Mariyappan Thangavelu won gold and Varun Bhati bronze in T-42 high jump category at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. "Hope they get selected this time," Singh said.

--IANS

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