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What's the story?
Indian para-athletes' excellent performance in the Asian Youth Para Games 2017 saw India clinching fourth place in the overall rankings to cap off a memorable performance for the Indian contingent in the Games which was proudly announced by Paralympic India using their official Twitter handle.
The Games, the hosting of which was awarded to Dubai earlier this year saw 600 athletes from all over the world participate in a variety of sports such as athletics, swimming, goalball, archery, chess, badminton, ten-pin bowling, powerlifting and table tennis.
In case you didn't know
Earlier in September, selections were held all over India to select and train the best para-athletes in the country with an eye out for the Games in December.
The 2017 edition, held from December 4th - December 10th was the third successive time the Games were held, having been held previously in 2013 (Malaysia) and 2009 (Tokyo).
The heart of the matter
In the past few editions of the Games, India has not had the best of results and had to settle with 32nd place in 2013, failing to win even a solitary medal right through the competition.
However, this year, with improvements in training facilities and coaching staff, India put on an improved show and performed in each event as the medal tally reached a record-high at the end of the Games.
India bagged a total of 17 gold, 14 silver and 13 bronze medals to take the final tally to 44 medals that placed India in 4th place, just nine medals short of a third-place finish which was bagged by Thailand as defending champions Japan finished on second with 98 medals and Iran won the championship with a total of 118 medals.
What's next?
The athletes, who will be high on confidence after the fourth-place finish will be gunning to prepare harder for the domestic championships which will commence from mid-January next year.
Author's take
It is indeed wonderful to see the para-athletes bring more laurels to the country by excelling in the Games which undoubtedly makes the country feel very proud about their achievements.
