History-making Paralympians return to rousing reception

India returned with an unprecedented 19 medals, including five gold, eight silver and six bronze, to register the country’s best-ever Paralympic campaign with a 24th-place finish.

The last batch of Indian para athletes, who returned home on Monday evening, comprised the badminton contingent, shooters and recurve archery team.

Among the medal-winning para athletes who returned to a grand welcome were 19-year- old Avani, who clinched gold and bronze, gold-winning shuttlers Pramod Bhagat and Krishna Nagar, silver medallist Suhas, bronze medallist Manoj Sarkar, and triumphant shooters Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adana.

The para athletes were received by Haryana Sports Minister and former India hockey player Sandeep Singh, and officials of the Paralympic Committee of India, besides a swarm of fans.

Earlier, silver medal-winning table tennis player Bhavinaben Patel returned to the country on Monday morning along with a few other athletes and officials.