Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 22 (ANI): Para athletics coach Gajendra Singh expressed happiness over the performances put up by the Indian athletes at the recently-concluded National Para Athletics Championships in Odisha and said that the performances will boost the country's medal tally in the Asian Para Games to be held later this year.

The 24th National Para Athletics Championship reached its grand conclusion today at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi graced the valedictory ceremony, where he presented awards to the winning national para-athletes. During the event, Haryana emerged as the overall champion with a staggering 95 medals, followed by Tamil Nadu in second place with 51 medals, and Gujarat securing the third position with 30 medals. The host state, Odisha, delivered a commendable performance, clinching a total of 17 medals, including 5 gold medals.

Speaking to ANI, he spoke glowingly of his three students, his wife Simran Sharma, a Paris Paralympics 2024 bronze medalist and World Championship gold medalist athlete, Preethi Pal, a two-time bronze medalist at the 2024 Paralympics and a multi-time World Championship medalist and Chirag Tyagi, who also took part in the championships held in Odisha.

'Currently, I am training three athletes, one of whom is my wife, Simran Sharma. She is a world champion, a Paralympic medalist, and an Arjuna Awardee. Preethi Pal also trains under my guidance and holds two Paralympic bronze medals. The third athlete is Chirag Tyagi, who recently delivered an excellent performance here and achieved a world ranking of number one in his category. We are currently performing very well at the global level, and I am confident that we will continue to achieve great success. We have just opened the season, and the results here have been exceptional.

The National Para-Athletics Championships were recently organised here by the Paralympic Committee of India. It has brought to light some truly outstanding performances. This initiative is certainly poised to boost our country's medal tally. I congratulate the Odisha government for organising this event so well. We are trying to peak during the Asian Para Games,' he added.

Gajendra also added that currently Simran is nursing an injury and undergoing treatment.

'We will be starting her treatment in May. Currently, we (the athletes) are going to a month-long training session in Bengaluru because it is quite hot in Delhi. After that, we will compete in the final trial for the Asian Games,' he signed off.

The championship saw the participation of 1,460 para-athletes representing 28 states across the country. (ANI)