Para-sports gets major boost in revised TOPS list
In a major boost for para-sports, 12 high-performing para-athletes, including Asiad gold-winner Sharad Kumar, were Wednesday included in the revised Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) list.
In all, four disciplines under para-sports were reviewed -- para-athletics, para-shooting, para-swimming and para-powerlifting.
According to a Sports Authority of India (SAI) release, the athletes were chosen for the TOPS keeping in view the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
In para-athletics, double Para Asiad gold medallist Sharad Kumar (Men's High Jump T63 42,63), Varun Bhati (Men's High Jump T63 42,63), Sandeep Chaudhary (Men's Javelin Throw F64 42-44, 61-64), Sumit (Men's Javelin Throw F64 42-44, 61-64), Sundar Singh Gurjar (Men's Javelin F46 45-46), Rinku (Men's Javelin F46 45-46), Amit Saroha (Men's Club Throw F51), Virender (Men's Shotput F57 56-57) and Jayanti Behera (Women's 400m T47 45-47) found a place in the latest list.
The selection criteria for para-athletics was the current world rankings ..