New Delhi: Double Paralympic medallist shooter Singhraj Adhana will not be a part of the Indian contingent for the Paris Paralympic Games because of a change in competition rules by the International Paralympic Committee post the 2021 Tokyo edition.
The 42-year-old Singhraj had won silver in the mixed 50m pistol SH1 and bronze in the 10m air pistol SHI category. The Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) selection panel for shooting met on Tuesday and decided that though nine Paris quota places had been bagged by the country's para shooters, only eight would board the flight to Paris.
"Although we have secured nine quota places for the Paris Paralympics, as per our PCI selection policy and World Shooting Para Sports (WSPS) guidelines, only eight shooters will be able to participate, so we will have to surrender one quota of Singhraj," the minutes of the PCI selection committee meeting stated.
JP Nautiyal, the PCI chairman for shooting sport told PTI that at the Tokyo Paralympics, every country was eligible to field a maximum of three shooters per event but in Paris, the number has been reduced to two, "which has forced the PCI to take this extremely painful decision to surrender the quota of shooting stalwart Singhraj."
"Rudransh Khandelwal (50m pistol SH1), Nihal Singh will represent the country in 25m pistol. In 10m air pistol P1, while Singhraj has bagged the quota, Manish Narwal and Rudransh are currently on top. In para shooting, if you bag a quota in any particular event, you can play in three different events. Singhraj and Manish Narwal had won quota places in 10m air pistol," said Nautiyal.