In the absence of several Indian and foreign para athletes, who had initially confirmed their participation but pulled out for various reasons, there were several events where the participation was a bare minimum -- in some disciplines just one athlete participated.
The absence of star para athletes like javelin thrower Sumit Antil and discus exponent Yogesh Kathuniya came as a dampener as India began its campaign in the three-day World Para Athletics Grand Prix on a sedate note in New Delhi on Tuesday.
With the Para Athletics World Championships scheduled in September, several top Indian athletes are missing the Grand Prix because "they are training as per their international schedule", said Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) president and two-time gold-medallist javelin thrower at the Paralympic Games Devendra Jhajharia.
In the absence of several Indian and foreign para athletes, who had initially confirmed their participation but pulled out for various reasons, there were several events where the participation was a bare minimum -- in some disciplines just one athlete participated.
The men's high jump T42 final -- for those with single above the knee amputations or a disability that is comparable -- saw just one athlete, Ramsingbhai Gobindbhai Padhiyar, competing and taking the top spot. Three others --Lokesh Mantra, Shailesh Kumar and Varun Singh Bhati -- pulled out.
In men's javelin throw (F33, F34) -- for those with a moderately affected movement and coordination across the whole body, or affecting part of the body which affect their movement to a high degree in the legs -- only two para athletes took part with Uzbekistan's Oybek Egamnazarov emerging on top with a best throw of 18.05m. India's Devershee Sachan came in second with a best of 11.34m.
In men's 100m (T11, T12) sprint -- near-total visual impairment -- Brazil's Joeferson Marinho de Oliveira won the gold clocking 11.17 seconds, while Vishnu (12.39 sec) and Pragadeeshwara Raja Moorthy (12.94 sec) of India finished second and third in a three-man field. Another Indian, Ramanjee did not start.
"If I look at it from the point of an athlete, this is a very big tournament," said Jhajharia, one of the legends of Indian para games.
"Every athlete has a dream of playing for the country and that has been materialised."
"As a PCI president, I am happy that we have been able to organise such a great event in the country. This will benefit our athletes as we will be hosting the Worlds in September, so we have got the opportunity to conduct a major event before that," he said.
"The opening ceremony (today) was so well organised. Our hospitality was really appreciated by the foreign para athletes. That is a big thing," he added.
With Sumit Antil, two-time Paralympic gold medallist in javelin thrower, and Yogesh Kathuniya, the Paris Paralympics discus-throw silver medallist, missing from the lineup and robbing the event of some of its sheen, Jhajharia said elite athletes go according to their training schedule.
"We have the World Championship coming up in September, players compete as per their training slots, plan. Athletes have to plan long term, so their focus is the Worlds. Our target is to win medals in that event, so the focus of athletes is on that event.
"Athletes also have their off-season... a lot of strength and power is required. Athletics is a game of fitness. If your fitness comes down by 3 or 4 per cent, your performance can come down by 8 percent," he opined, adding that future Grand Prix events in the country will definitely see more competitive fields.
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