Kapil Parmar wins historic bronze medal in Judo for India at Paralympics

Kapil Parmar bagged India's first ever Paralympic medal in judo, clinching a bronze in the men's 60kg (J1) after convincingly defeating Brazil's Elielton de Oliveira in the final here on Thursday.

Parmar produced a superlative performance, dominating his opponent from start to finish to record a 10-0 win in the bronze medal contest.

He had earlier lost to S Banitaba Khorram Abadi in the semifinals, beaten 0-10 by his Iranian opponent here at the Champs-de-mart arena.

The J1 class in para judo is for the athletes who suffer from no to very low visual activity. Athletes in this category wear red circles to indicate that they may need guided support before, during and after a contest.

Parmar, who won the silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games in the same category, had earlier beaten Venezuela's Marco Dennis Blanco 10-0 in the quarterfinal.

Parmar was, however, handed a yellow card in each of the two contests on Thursday.

Yellow cards in judo are given for minor violations such as passivity or using a technique that might hinder the opponent or cause injury.

Fighting against the odds to clinch a Paralympics medal for India

Kapil, the youngest of four brothers and one sister, hails from Shivor, a village in Madhya Pradesh. His father is a taxi driver, and his sister manages a primary school. During his childhood, Kapil suffered a serious electric shock after accidentally coming into contact with a water pump while playing in the fields, which resulted in him falling into a coma. While the intial effect was felt on his hands with his fingers getting stuck to each other, Parmar had a decline in his vision later on which couldn't be improved even with the help of high powered spectacles.

Parmar began practicing Judo in 2017 after learning about the blind judo category. He first gained recognition in 2018 by winning a gold medal at the national championships. He further brought pride to the nation by claiming the top spot at the 2019 Commonwealth Championship in Birmingham.