Kolkata: Our athletes have been succeeding in every tournament for past one year, including the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Paralympics, and now the Deaflympics 2021. They have left no stone unturned in their quest to raise India’s global standing.
Apart from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, people have started following and showering love on Neeraj Chopra, Dhanush Srikanth, Shourya Saini, Pramod Bhagat, and other athletes. Deaflympics witnessed the country’s greatest delegation ever– 65 athletes– just as the world saw India’s largest contingent ever at the Tokyo Olympics.
Not only did the athletes represent the country’s largest contingent to the tournament in Caxias do Sul, in southern Brazil, but they also brought the country’s richest haul. During the fortnight-long quadrennial tournament, 16 medals were won, including eight gold, one silver, and seven bronze. The Indians won medals in five of the 11 sports they competed in, with the shooting team picking up the most – three gold and two bronze.
India finished in ninth position on the medal table.
✨️India shines at Brazil #Deaflympics2021 ✨️
With #TeamIndia's best ever performance at the Games our Champs bagged 8️⃣🥇1️⃣🥈7️⃣🥉and placed 9️⃣th in the medal table
Take a look at the achievements 👇
🔹️For the 1️⃣st time 🇮🇳 finished among Top 10 nations #JeetKaJazba
1/3 pic.twitter.com/C5aZuL203d— SAI Media (@Media_SAI) May 17, 2022
The medal haul had begun with Dhanush Srikanth and Shourya Saini winning gold and bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle event, respectively. The badminton squad got on the medal board on the same day, winning gold in the mixed team event after beating Japan in the final.
There were medals won in tennis and golf. And on the final day of competitions, the wrestling contingent won three medals.
Virender Singh Yadav, called ‘Ghooga Pehelwan,’ won his fifth straight medal at the Deaflympics, this time in the 74kg category, while Jerlin Jayaratchagan was India’s most decorated participant at this edition of the Games, collecting three gold medals. She earned three gold medals after assisting the mixed badminton team to victory and then winning gold in the women’s singles and mixed doubles events.
Prithvi Sekhar, a tennis player, earned three medals: a silver with Dhananjay Dubey in the men’s doubles event, and two bronze medals with Jafreen Shaik in the men’s singles and mixed doubles events.
India bag 16 medals including 8 Gold medals 🥇 at the #Deaflympics2021 in Brazil.
Congratulations to the Indian contingent for the best performance, Every athlete in our team is an inspiration to our countrymen!💐💪
Kudos to all the medallists! 👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/PGkBkjLKAk
— Sunil Deodhar (@Sunil_Deodhar) May 17, 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the Indian delegation on their best-ever performance at the Deaflympics 2021. The PM further stated that on the morning of May 21, he will host the whole contingent at his mansion.
