“He asked what changes could be brought…”: Paralympics medalist Soorma on meeting with Rajnath Singh

New Delhi [India], September 16 (ANI): Paris Paralympics club throw silver medalist Pranav Soorma expressed happiness following his meeting with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, saying that the minister asked athletes about changes that could be made by the government in the sports sector to garner more interest and medals in the future.

Rajnath Singh interacted with the country’s history-making Paris Paralympics para-athletes on Monday. Top Paralympic athletes like javelin throwers Navdeep and Sumit Antil, Pranav Soorma, and Sakshi Kasana were among the ones present at his residence.

“I am very glad to have met him. He motivated us a lot. I feel privileged to have won a medal for my country. He asked us what changes could be brought to the sports sector to generate more interest in future from public and have more players winning medals in future,” Soorma told ANI.

India recorded a one-two finish at a para-athletics competition for the first time, with Dharambir and Parnav Soorma clinching gold and silver, respectively, in the men’s club throw F51 event. This was among India’s first-ever medals in this sport. Dharambir also set an Asian record of 34.92 m. Pranav, on the other hand, threw 34.59 m.

Also, discus throw para-athlete Sakshi Kasana also told ANI, “I am very lucky to get this opportunity to meet him and conversate on several things, on whether we faced any issues..It was a very good meeting. He motivated me a lot to get a medal next time.”

The Indian contingent concluded its historic Paris Paralympics campaign with a total of 29 medals, including seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze medals, the most by the country in the history of the competition.

With this landmark campaign, India has surpassed their previously most successful campaign at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which gave them 19 medals, including five golds, eight silvers, and six bronze medals.

This record-haul also helped India cross the 50-medal mark in the history of the competition. A record of 84 para-athletes represented the tricolour from August 28 to Sunday in 12 disciplines, as compared to nine back in Tokyo 2020. India also participated in new sports at Paris: paracycling, para rowing, and blind judo.

India established several records and unlocked some new “firsts” at the Paralympic Games.

A look at India’s medalists at the Paris 2024 Paralympics:

-Avani Lekhara (Shooting, Women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1, Gold)

-Mona Agarwal (Shooting, Women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1, Bronze)

-Preethi Pal (Athletics, Women’s 100m T35, Bronze)

-Manish Narwal (Shooting, Men’s 10m air pistol SH1, Silver)

-Rubina Francis (Shooting, Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1, Bronze)

-Preethi Pal (Shooting, Women’s 10m Air Pistol SH1, Bronze)

-Nishad Kumar (Athletics, Men’s high jump T47, Silver)

-Yogesh Kathuniya (Athletics, Men’s discus throw F56, Silver)

-Nitesh Kumar (Badminton, Men’s singles SL3, Gold)

-Thulasimathi Murugesan (Badminton, Women’s singles SU5, Silver)

-Manisha Ramadass (Badminton, Women’s singles SU5, Bronze)

-Suhas Yathiraj (Badminton, Men’s singles SL4, Silver)

-Rakesh Kumar / Sheetal Devi (Archery, Mixed team compound open, Bronze)

-Sumit Antil (Athletics, Javelin throw F64, Gold)

-Nithya Sre Sivan (Badminton, Women’s singles SH6, Bronze)

-Deepthi Jeevanji (Athletics, Women’s 400m T20, Bronze)

-Mariyappan Thangavelu (Athletics, Men’s high jump T63, Bronze)

-Sharad Kumar (Athletics, Men’s high jump T63, Silver)

-Ajeet Singh (Athletics, Men’s javelin throw, F46, Silver)

-Sundar Singh Gurjar (Athletics, Men’s javelin throw F46, Bronze)

-Sachin Khilari (Athletics, Men’s shot put F46, Silver)

-Harvinder Singh (Archery, Men’s individual recurve open, Gold)

-Dharambir (Athletics, Men’s club throw F51, Gold)

-Parnav Soorma (Athletics, Men’s club throw F51, Silver)

-Kapil Parmar (Judo, Men’s -60kg J1, Bronze)

-Praveen Kumar (Athletics, Men’s high jump T64, Gold)

-Hokato Hotozhe Sema (Athletics, Men’s shot put F57, Bronze)

-Simran (Athletics, Women’s 200m T12, Bronze)

-Navdeep Singh (Athletics, Men’s javelin throw F41, Gold).