After two days of non-medal events in table tennis, India’s campaign kicks up a few notches on Friday at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The first medal events are in powerlifting, followed by athletics later in the day. There are two powerlifters in the Indian contingent and both of them will be in action on Friday – Sakina Khatun in the morning followed by Jaideep in the evening.
The athletics events are where India’s hopes predominantly lie and first up in action is flagbearer Tek Chand. The Indian was originally classified as F54 in the javelin throw event but once his sport class was changed to F55, where there is no javelin event, his event changed to shot put. He has been part of both disciplines in the past but it remains to be seen how he adapts to this late change.
The archers will look to begin their campaigns on a positive note, as the rankings rounds will determine seedings for their respective elimination matches.
Bhavina Patel will also be in action for the third straight day, and she will look to first get past her Brazilian opponent in the table tennis women’s singles round of 16. Should she win, the defending champion awaits in the quarter-final later in the day.
India's day 3 schedule
| Sport | Start Time (IST) | Event | Athletes | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | 5:30 | Women's Individual Compound - Open Ranking Round | Jyoti Balyan | Yumenoshima Ranking Field |
| Archery | 10:30 | Men's Individual Compound - Open Ranking Round | Rakesh Kumar & Shyam Sundar Swami | Yumenoshima Ranking Field |
| Archery | 10:30 | Men's Individual Recurve - Open Ranking Round | Harvinder Singh & Vivek Chikara | Yumenoshima Ranking Field |
| Table Tennis | 7:30 | Women's Singles - Class 4 Round of 16 | Bhavina Patel vs Joyce De Oliveira | Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium |
| Table Tennis | 15:50 | Women's singles Class 4 QF | TBD | Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium |
| Powerlifting | 9.30 | Women's -50kg | Sakina Khatun | Tokyo International Forum |
| Powerlifting | 15:00 | Men's -65kg | Jaideep | Tokyo International Forum |
| Athletics | 15:30 | Men's Shot Put - F55 Final | Tek Chand | Olympic Stadium - Seated Shot Put |
Swimmer Suyash Jadhav will miss Friday’s 200m individual medley SM7 event in the Paralympic Games as he is suffering from cold and a sore throat, reported PTI.
The Indian contingent’s chef de mission Gursharan Singh on Thursday said Jadhav is a bit under the weather and doctors have advised him not to compete on Friday. His Covid-19 test report is, however, negative.
“Jadhav has cold and sore throat. Doctors said he should take rest. So we decided he will not take part tomorrow. But he will be fine for his other two events,” Singh told PTI. “His Covid report is negative.”
The 27-year-old Jadhav, whose two hands were amputated below the elbow at the age of 11 due to electrocution, will compete in two other events – 100m breaststroke SB7 on September 1 and 50m butterfly S7 on September 3.
With PTI inputs