Tokyo Paralympics 2020: Indian powerlifters Jaideep Kumar, Sakina Khatun qualify for Games

Powerlifters Jaideep Kumar and Sakina Khatun on Wednesday qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Paralympics after the sport’s world governing body handed bipartite quotas to the country.

World Para Powerlifting conferred a bipartite quota each to Kumar (men’s 65 kg) and Khatun (women’s 50kg), Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) said.

Khatun had won a bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and a silver in the 2018 Asian Para Games.

The bipartite slots came as a relief to India after the country’s para powerlifting team couldn’t participate at last month’s Fazza - Dubai 2021 World Cup owing to travel restrictions to the United Arab Emirates.

It’s a dream come true to qualify for the Paralympics. I have been working hard for the last two years. Now that the qualification has come, I will give my best to win a medal at the Games, said Khatun, who became India’s first female powerlifter to qualify for the Paralympics.

Rohtak based Jaideep said: After we had missed the final qualification event in Dubai, there was a lot of uncertainty about my qualification. The bipartite slots have given us a lot of hope and motivation to work towards our goal. I will definitely fight for a medal at the Games."

The Tokyo Paralympics will run from 24 August to 5 September.