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Will do my best at Tokyo Paralympics: Deepa Malik

Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) chief Deepa Malik is hopeful that the country’s para athletes will create history with their best ever performance at the Tokyo Games starting Tuesday.

India is fielding its largest contingent ever in these games. 54 players from the country will compete in nine sports including archery, athletics, badminton, canoeing, shooting, swimming, powerlifting, table tennis and taekwondo.

Deepa said, “Of course, I have high hopes. This year India is sending its largest contingent ever. I am sure that we will create history.

“This squad is three times bigger than the previous team, in four to five years between 2016-2020, we have qualified in four more games,” he said.
Malik said during the virtual press conference, “Two years were affected due to the pandemic, but despite this, the number of players who have qualified has increased significantly.”

Deepa, the first Indian woman to win a medal at the Paralympics, said the figures for the Indian contingent are looking good.

She said, “The players have got a lot of quotas not only on the basis of qualifying but also on the basis of world ranking. The figures are looking very good, the players have done very well in the selection trials and there is a lot of hope given their current world rankings.
“The number of participants and sports have increased, we have top ranked players, indicating that they are going to be one of the greatest Paralympics in Indian history,” Deepa said.

At the Rio Paralympics 2016, the Indian contingent won a total of four medals, including two gold, one silver and one bronze.