Sports Ministry removes coach Jai Prakash Nautiyal as India names 166-athlete Asian Para Games squad
The Sports Ministry has removed para-shooting coach Jai Prakash Nautiyal from India’s Asian Para Games contingent and approved a 166-member athlete squad, five days after the team was officially flagged off in New Delhi and ahead of the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, which begin on October 18.
Long-serving national coach Jeevan L Rai has been named to replace Nautiyal in the contingent. Nautiyal had been accused of not following established selection criteria and demanding kickbacks in exchange for selecting athletes, accusations that prompted protests by para-shooters and cyclists. Several shooters gathered outside the Sports Authority of India (SAI) headquarters to demand Nautiyal’s removal and an investigation into the allegations, and they met Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya after attempting to disrupt the contingent’s send-off ceremony.
With 94 team officials and support staff and 15 contingent staff, India’s total delegation for the Games will comprise 275 members across 10 disciplines.
Para-athletics is the largest athlete group with 62 competitors, including 46 men, and will be supported by a staff of 36. World Championships medallist Simran, whose previous guide, Umar Saifi, was caught in the doping net, is part of the squad and will compete in Aichi-Nagoya with a new guide, Shivam.
The Ministry resisted calls for last-minute additions to the para-cycling squad and approved only Paralympian Arshad Shaik, who was the best performer among those in contention and comfortably met the selection criteria. Six other cyclists who had been selected by the Cycling Federation of India and the Paralympic Committee of India were subsequently omitted for failing to meet the criteria.
Table tennis selections include Paralympic silver medallist Bhavina Patel. The 28-member badminton squad, comprising 17 men and 11 women, will be led by former world number one and Tokyo Paralympic gold medallist Pramod Bhagat and former Paralympic silver medallist Suhas Yathiraj; the badminton team will have a support staff of 11.
Armless compound archer Sheetal Devi, a two-time gold medallist at the previous Para Asian Games and the 19-year-old world champion, is among India’s leading archery entries and will be joined by 18-year-old Payal Nag, who defeated Sheetal at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok. The 13-member para-shooting squad that was at the centre of the selection controversy includes Paralympic gold medallist Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal, with Agarwal having secured a quota place for India at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics by winning silver at the recent World Championships in South Korea.
India’s announced delegation will compete at the Asian Para Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, which begin on October 18.