'You don’t feel disabled overseas', says para paddler Bhavina Patel

Bhavina Patel

Showing exemplary grit and gumption, Indian para-athletes have excelled at the biggest stage but they still have to struggle for basic facilities in their everyday and sporting life.

The Indian contingent returned with its best-ever medal haul from the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, bagging 19 medals and at the recently concluded Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, India created history by winning an unprecedented 111 medals, including 29 gold, 31 silver and 51 bronze.

Star Indian para table tennis player Bhavina Patel, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, who added a para Asian Games gold to her Paralympics silver, feels more is needed to empower the para athletes.

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"There are still a lot of government offices that are not wheelchair accessible. When you go to foreign countries you never feel disabled, everything is so accessible. Facilities like these will make us feel more independent," Bhavina told PTI.

"A lot of the states don't have policies for para athletes that should be made as soon as possible. There are differences in facilities of para athletes and normal athletes, so that should be completed.

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