# India at the 2020 Summer Paralympics

India competed in the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. India made its official debut at the 1968 Summer Paralympics and has appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since 1984.
India sent a contingent consisting of 54 athletes competing across nine sports in the Games. Athlete Tek Chand was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony and shooter Avani Lekhara carried the flag during the closing ceremony.
This was India's most successful Paralympic campaign at the time with 19 medals including five gold, eight silver and six bronze medals. Before this edition, India had won a combined total of 12 medals across all previous Paralympics combined.

## Background

The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) was formed in 1994, five years after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was established in 1989. The ninth International Stoke Mandville Games was later designated as the first Paralympics in 1960. The International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation organized the Paralympic Games till 1984. The 1988 Seoul Paralympics was the first to use the Paralympics name and the event has been held in the same host city as the corresponding Summer Olympic Games since then. The nation made its Paralympics debut in 1968 and have appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympic Games since 1984. This edition of the Games marked the nation's 12th appearance at the Summer Paralympics.
The Indian contingent for the games consisted of 54 people across nine sports. Athlete Mariyappan Thangavelu was the designated flag bearer during the opening ceremony but was later replaced by Tek Chand due to Covid-19 quarantine regulations. Shooter Avani Lekhara carried the flag during the closing ceremony.

## Medalists

This was India's most successful Paralympic campaign with 19 medals including five gold, eight silver and six bronze medals. Before this edition, India had won a combined total of 12 medals across all previous Paralympics combined
Bhavina Patel won India's first medal, a silver in Table Tennis. Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman paralympic athlete to win a gold medal. She won another bronze medal to become the first Indian woman multiple medalist in Paralympic shooting. Shooter Manish Narwal won another gold medal in 50 m pistol SH1 event and Singhraj Adhana also won two shooting medals, a silver and a bronze. Harvinder Singh became the first Indian to win a medal in Paralympic archery after he won a bronze medal in the men's recurve event. In badminton, Indian shuttlers won four medals including two gold medals by Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar, a silver medal by Suhas Yathiraj and a bronze medal by Manoj Sarkar.
In athletics, India won eight medals including one gold, five silver and two bronze medals. Sumit Antil won a gold medal in Javelin throw F64 with a new world record. Mariyappan Thangavelu (high jump T63) and Devendra Jhajharia (Javelin throw F46) won silver medals to go along with the gold medals they won in the 2016 Games. This was Jhajharia third medal, which is the most by an Indian Para athlete in the Paralympic Games along with Joginder Singh Bedi. Nishad Kumar and Praveen Kumar won silver medals in high jump T47 and high jump T64 respectively. Sharad Kumar (high jump T63) and Sundar Singh Gurjar (Javelin throw F46) won bronze medals. Indian discus thrower Vinod Kumar who won a bronze in the F52 category discus throw event, was later disqualified after being found ineligible in the disability classification assessment.
| Medal | Name | Sport | Event | Date |
| Gold | Avani Lekhara | Shooting | Women's R2 10 metre air rifle standing SH1 | 30 August |
| Gold | Sumit Antil | Athletics | Men's javelin throw F64 | 30 August |
| Gold | Manish Narwal | Shooting | Mixed P4 50 metre pistol SH1 | 4 September |
| Gold | Pramod Bhagat | Badminton | Men's singles SL3 | 4 September |
| Gold | Krishna Nagar | Badminton | Men's singles SH6 | 5 September |
| Silver | Bhavina Patel | Table tennis | Women's individual class 4 | 29 August |
| Silver | Nishad Kumar | Athletics | Men's high jump T47 | 29 August |
| Silver | Yogesh Kathuniya | Athletics | Men's discus throw F56 | 30 August |
| Silver | Devendra Jhajharia | Athletics | Men's javelin throw F46 | 30 August |
| Silver | Mariyappan Thangavelu | Athletics | Men's high jump T63 | 31 August |
| Silver | Praveen Kumar | Athletics | Men's high jump T64 | 3 September |
| Silver | Singhraj Adhana | Shooting | Mixed P4 50 metre pistol SH1 | 4 September |
| Silver | Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj | Badminton | Men's singles SL4 | 5 September |
| Bronze | Sundar Singh Gurjar | Athletics | Men's javelin throw F46 | 30 August |
| Bronze | Singhraj Adhana | Shooting | Men's P1 10 metre air pistol SH1 | 31 August |
| Bronze | Sharad Kumar | Athletics | Men's high jump T63 | 31 August |
| Bronze | Avani Lekhara | Shooting | Women's R8 50 metre Rifle 3 positions SH1 | 3 September |
| Bronze | Harvinder Singh | Archery | Men's individual recurve open | 3 September |
| Bronze | Manoj Sarkar | Badminton | Men's singles SL3 | 4 September |

### Summary

Medals by sport :
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Shooting | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Badminton | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Athletics | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| Table tennis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Archery | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 5 | 8 | 6 | 19 |
Medals by day :
| Day | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 5 | 29 August | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | 30 August | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | 31 August | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | 3 September | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 | 4 September | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 12 | 5 September | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 5 | 8 | 6 | 19 |
Medals by gender :
| Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Male | 4 | 7 | 5 | 16 |
| Female | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | 5 | 8 | 6 | 19 |

## Competitors

The Indian contingent for the games consisted of 54 athletes competing across nine sports.
| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| Archery | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Athletics | 20 | 4 | 24 |
| Badminton | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Paracanoeing | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Powerlifting | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Shooting | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| Swimming | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Table Tennis | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Taekwondo | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 40 | 14 | 54 |

## Archery

India archers achieved four quota places in the 2019 World Para Archery Championships. Jyoti Baliyan got the bipartite commission invitation to participate in the tournament.

### Recurve

| Athlete | Event | Ranking round | Ranking round | Round of 64 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Athlete | Event | Score | Seed | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Rank |
| Harvinder Singh | Men's individual | 600 | 21 | — | Travisani (ITA) W 6–5 | Tsydendorzhiev (RPC) W 6–5 | Szarszewski (GER) W 6–2 | Mather (USA) L 4–6 | Kim M-s (KOR) W 6–5 | |
| Vivek Chikara | Men's individual | 609 | 10 | — | Megahamulea (SRI) W 6–2 | Phillips (GBR) L 3–7 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 9 |

### Compound

| Athlete | Event | Ranking round | Ranking round | Round of 64 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals |
| Athlete | Event | Score | Seed | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Opposition score | Rank |
| Rakesh Kumar | Men's individual | 699 | 3 | Bye | Ngai KC (HKG) W 144–131 | Marecak (SVK) W 140–137 | Ai Xl (CHN) L 143–145 | Did not advance | Did not advance | 5 |
| Shyam Sundar Swami | Men's individual | 682 | 21 | Bye | Stutzman (USA) L 139–142 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 17 |
| Jyoti Baliyan | Women's individual | 671 | 15 | — | Leonard (IRL) L 137–141 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 17 |
| Jyoti Baliyan Rakesh Kumar | Mixed team | 1370 | 6 | — | — | Thailand (THA) W 147–141 | Turkey (TUR) L 151–153 | Did not advance | Did not advance | 5 |

## Athletics

The following Indian athletes achieved the quota places by through eligible events and via the Athletics World Rankings. The Paralympic Committee of India announced the final list of the athletes after the selection trials held in New Delhi.

### Track

| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank |
| Simran Sharma | Women's 100m T13 | 12.69 SB | 5 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Field

| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank |
| Amit Kumar Saroha | Men's club throw F51 | 27.77 SB | 5 |
| Dharambir Nain | Men's club throw F51 | 25.59 SB | 8 |
| Vinod Kumar | Men's discus throw F52 | CNC | CNC |
| Yogesh Kathuniya | Men's discus throw F56 | 44.38 SB | |
| Nishad Kumar | Men's high jump T47 | 2.06 AR | |
| Ram Pal | Men's high jump T47 | 1.94 | 5 |
| Mariyappan Thangavelu | Men's high jump T63 | 1.86 SB | |
| Sharad Kumar | Men's high jump T63 | 1.83 SB | |
| Varun Singh Bhati | Men's high jump T63 | 1.77 SB | 7 |
| Praveen Kumar | Men's high jump T64 | 2.07 AR | |
| Navdeep Singh | Men's javelin throw F41 | 40.80 | 4 |
| Sundar Singh Gurjar | Men's javelin throw F46 | 64.01 SB | |
| Ajeet Singh | Men's javelin throw F46 | 56.15 | 8 |
| Devendra Jhajharia | Men's javelin throw F46 | 64.35 PB | |
| Ranjeet Bhati | Men's javelin throw F57 | NM | NM |
| Sandeep Chaudhary | Men's javelin throw F64 | 62.20 SB | 4 |
| Sumit Antil | Men's javelin throw F64 | 68.55 WR | |
| Arvind Malik | Men's shot put F35 | 13.48 | 7 |
| Soman Rana | Men's shot put F57 | 13.81 | 4 |
| Tek Chand | Men's shot put F55 | 9.04 | 8 |
| Kashish Lakra | Women's club throw F51 | 12.66 SB | 6 |
| Ekta Bhyan | Women's club throw F51 | 8.38 SB | 8 |
| Bhagyashree Jadhav | Women's shot put F34 | 7.00 PB | 7 |

### Key

* NM = No Mark
* WR = World record
* AR = Area (Asian) Record
* SB = Season best
* PB = Personal best
* CNC = Classification not completed

## Badminton

Badminton made its debut at the Paralympic Games and seven Indian shuttlers qualified for the games based on qualification rankings or bipartite invitation.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Group Stage | Group Stage | Group Stage | Group Stage | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank |
| Pramod Bhagat | Singles SL3 | Sarkar (IND) W (21–10, 21–23, 21–9) | Chyrkov (UKR) W (21–12, 21–9) | — | 1 Q | Fujihara (JPN) W (21–11, 21–16) | Bethell (GBR) W (21–14, 21–17) | |
| Manoj Sarkar | Singles SL3 | Bhagat (IND) L (10–21, 23–21, 9–21) | Chyrkov (UKR) W (21–16, 21–9) | — | 2 Q | Bethell (GBR) L (8–21, 10–21) | Fujihara (JPN) W (22–20, 21–13) | |
| Tarun Dhillon | Singles SL4 | Teamarrom (THA) W (21–7, 21–13) | Shin K-h (KOR) W (21–18, 15–21, 21–17) | Setiawan (INA) L (19–21, 9–21) | 2 Q | Mazur (FRA) L (16–21, 21–16, 18–21) | Setiawan (INA) L (17–21, 11–21) | 4 |
| Suhas Lalinakere Yathiraj | Singles SL4 | Pott (GER) W (21–9, 21–3) | Susanto (INA) W (21–6, 21–12) | Mazur (FRA) L (15–21, 17–21) | 2 Q | Setiawan (INA) W (21–9, 21–15) | Mazur (FRA) L (21–15, 17–21, 15–21) | |
| Krishna Nagar | Singles SH6 | Taresoh (MAS) W (22–20, 21–10) | Tavares (BRA) W (21–17, 21–14) | — | 1 Q | Coombs (GBR) W (21–10, 21–11) | Chu MK (HKG) W (21–17, 16–21, 21–17) | |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Group Stage | Group Stage | Group Stage | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank |
| Palak Kohli | Singles SU5 | Suzuki (JPN) L (4–21, 7–21) | Bağlar (TUR) W (21–12, 21–18) | 2 Q | Kameyama (JPN) L (11–21, 15–21) | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Parul Parmar | Singles SL4 | Cheng Hf (CHN) L (8–21, 2–21) | Seibert (GER) L (21–23, 21–19, 15–21) | 3 | — | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Parul Parmar Palak Kohli | Doubles SL3–SU5 | Cheng Hf / Ma Hh (CHN) L (7–21, 5–21) | Morin / Noël (FRA) L (12–21, 20–22) | 3 | — | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Mixed

| Athlete | Event | Group Stage | Group Stage | Group Stage | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank |
| Pramod Bhagat Palak Kohli | Doubles SL3–SU5 | Mazur / Noël (FRA) L (9–21, 21–15, 19–21) | Teamarrom / Saensupa (THA) W (21–15, 21–19) | 2 Q | Susanto / Oktila (INA) L (3–21, 15–21) | Fujihara / Sugino (JPN) L (21–23, 19–21) | 4 |

## Paracanoeing

Prachi Yadav was the only Indian para canoe athlete at the Tokyo Paralympics and she achieved the quota after finishing 8th in International Canoe World Championship 2019.
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Prachi Yadav | VL2 | 1:11.098 | 4 Q | 1:07.397 | 3 Q | 1:07.329 | 8 |

## Powerlifting

Sakina Khatun and Jaideep Deswal received the bipartite invitation to participate in the games. Sakina became the first-ever female powerlifter from the country to participate in the games. While this was Jaideep's second Paralympics.
| Athlete | Event | Score | Rank |
| Jaideep Deswal | Men's 65 kg | — | — |
| Sakina Khatun | Women's 50 kg | 93 | 5 |

## Shooting

Indian shooters achieved quota places for through various qualifying events. Manish Narwal and Deepender Singh became the first shooters to qualify after winning the gold and silver medal respectively at the 2018 World Shooting Para Sport World Cup at Châteauroux and Singhraj Adhana joined them by securing a berth in the mixed pistol event. Avani Lekhara became the first female shooter to secure a Paralympic berth. Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar and Sidhartha Babu secured quotas in the 2019 World Shooting Para Sport Championships at Sydney. Other shooters secured the remaining quota places at the 2021 Para Sport World Cup held in Lima. Paralympic Committee of India announced the 10-member Indian Team for the Games on 8 July 2021.

### Men

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Manish Narwal | P1 10 m air pistol SH1 | 575 | 1 Q | 135.8 | 7 |
| Deepender Singh | P1 10 m air pistol SH1 | 560 | 10 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Singhraj Adhana | P1 10 m air pistol SH1 | 569 | 6 Q | 216.8 | |
| Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar | R1 10 m air rifle standing SH1 | 615.2 | 7 Q | 203.9 | 4 |
| Deepak Saini | R1 10 m air rifle standing SH1 | 592.6 | 20 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Deepak Saini | R7 50 m rifle 3 positions SH1 | 1114 | 18 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Rubina Francis | P2 10 m air pistol SH1 | 560 | 7 Q | 128.5 | 7 |
| Avani Lekhara | R2 10 m air rifle SH1 | 621.7 | 7 Q | 249.6 EWR PR | |
| Avani Lekhara | R8 50 m rifle 3 positions SH1 | 1176 | 2 Q | 445.9 | |

### Mixed

| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Qualification | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Points | Rank | Points | Rank |
| Rahul Jakhar | P3 25 m pistol SH1 | 576 | 2 Q | 12 | 5 |
| Akash | P3 25 m pistol SH1 | 551 | 20 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Manish Narwal | P4 50 m pistol SH1 | 533 | 7 Q | 218.2 PR | |
| Singhraj Adhana | P4 50 m pistol SH1 | 536 | 4 Q | 216.7 | |
| Akash | P4 50 m pistol SH1 | 507 | 27 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Deepak Saini | R3 10 m air rifle prone SH1 | 624.9 | 43 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Sidhartha Babu | R3 10 m air rifle prone SH1 | 625.5 | 40 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Avani Lekhara | R3 10 m air rifle prone SH1 | 629.7 | 27 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Avani Lekhara | R6 50 m rifle prone SH1 | 612 | 28 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Deepak Saini | R6 50 m rifle prone SH1 | 602.2 | 46 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Sidhartha Babu | R6 50 m rifle prone SH1 | 617.2 | 9 | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Swimming

Suyash Jadhav achieved the Minimum qualifying Standard to qualify for the Games. Later, Niranjan Mukundan received bi-partite invitation to participate in the 50 m Butterfly S7 event.
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Heat | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Niranjan Mukundan | Men's 50m butterfly S7 | 33.82 | 6 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Suyash Jadhav | Men's 50m butterfly S7 | 32.36 | 5 | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Suyash Jadhav | Men's 100 m breaststroke SB7 | — | — | DSQ | DSQ |
| Suyash Jadhav | Men's 200m individual medley SM7 | DNS | DNS | Did not advance | Did not advance |
DNS - Did not start; DSQ- Disqualified

## Table tennis

India entered two athletes into the table tennis competition at the games. Bhavina Patel and Sonal Patel qualified via the overall Rankings.
| Athlete | Event | Group Stage | Group Stage | Group Stage | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Sonal Patel | Women's individual C3 | Li Q (CHN) L 2–3 | Lee M-g (KOR) L 1–3 | 3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |
| Bhavina Patel | Women's individual C4 | Zhou Y (CHN) L 0–3 | Shackleton (GBR) W 3–1 | 2 Q | de Oliveira (BRA) W 3–0 | Perić-Ranković (SRB) W 3–0 | Zhang M (CHN) W 3–2 | Zhou Y (CHN) L 0–3 | |
| Sonal Patel Bhavina Patel | Women's team C4-5 | — | — | — | — | China (CHN) L 0–2 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Taekwondo

Aruna Tanwar received the bipartite commission invitation for the Games. She withdrew during the competition due to injury.

### Women

| Athlete | Event | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Repechage 1 | Repechage 2 | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Aruna Tanwar | K44 −49 kg | Jovanovic (SRB) W 29–9 | Espinoza (PER) L 21–84 | Did not advance | Fataliyeva (AZE) L W/O | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |