New Delhi, Jul 17 (Agency) As Para Badminton is set to make debut at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo next month, India will send a seven-member strong squad after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Friday granted two bipartite quotas to the country. Para shuttlers Suhas L. Yathiraj has been granted the quota in men’s singles SL4 while Manoj Sarkar has made the cut in men’s singles SL3, and will be joining the team led by world no. 1 Pramod Bhagat. The addition of the two para shuttlers also boosted India’s medal prospect in the two men’s singles categories.
India already has Bhagat in men’s singles SL3 and Tarun Dhillon in men’s singles SL4 events. “It’s wonderful to have strong presence at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Indian para shuttlers are doing very well in international events including Asian Para Games and World Championships, and now this is the time to lead the show in the Paralympics. It’s great to have two shuttlers each in men’s SL3 category and men’s SL4 category which enhances our medal prospect. We wish to have the gold and silver in both the category,” chief national coach Gaurav Khanna said.