SONEPAT MAN BAGS SILVER IN INT’L PARAPLEGIC EVENT
CHANDIGARH : Amit Saroha clinched silver medal in the club throw event in the F-51 category --- below waist paraplegic category --- in the ongoing World Championship in London on Monday. Saroha, who hails from Sonepat, came up with his best ever performance.
I was expecting a medal in Rio, but somehow missed it by a few centimetres. For the last nine months, I was eagerly waiting for the world championships. AMIT SAROHA, Indian para athlete
CHANDIGARH:For almost a decade, former national-level hockey player Amit Saroha has been wheelchair-bound, after a road accident in 2007.
The severe spine injury would have crushed many others, but didn’t deter Saroha from chasing his sporting dreams. And the 32-year-old gave India a sporting moment to cherish on Monday.
Saroha clinched silver medal in the club throw event in F-51 --below waist paraplegic category --- in the World Para Athletics Championships in London. The event is equivalent to hammer throw with para athletes throwing a wooden club.
Saroha made amends for his fourth-place finish in the 2016 Rio Paralympics by producing his career best performance in London, achieving 30.25m to set an Asian record as well.
Rio Paralympics champion Zeljko Dimitrijevic of Serbia retained the title with a world record 31.99m with compatriot Milos Mitic claiming bronze.
“I was expecting a medal in Rio, but somehow missed it by a few centimetres. For the last nine months, I was eagerly waiting for the world championships. Thankfully, I was able to do it today,” Saroha told HT.
“This is my second medal in the world championships, but this one is special as I was able to increase my distance by around five metres from 2015, where too I got silver,” said the Arjuna awardee, an assistant coach with the Haryan a Sports Department.
Even as he was coming to terms with the shattering accident, Saroha saw a silver lining after being introduced to para sports. “It was on September 21, 2007 when in a road accident I suffered the severe spinal injury. After a few days of treatment, I was told by the doctors that for the rest of my life I would be on wheelchair.
For a moment I felt everything was over for me. But I realised the accident gave me permanent disability, but I didn’t lose my life. So, whatever happened is my destiny,” recalled Amit, who hails from Bayanpur village in Sonepat.
During treatment at the Indian Spinal Injury Centre he met an American, who introduced him to wheelchair rugby. Saroha formed the Indian team and played a match against Brazil in the World Para Games in Bangalore in 2009.
“In Bangalore I got to know about para sports. With six months’ training in shot put, I made it to the national squad,” said Amit, a Para Asian Games gold medallist.
Saroha has received around R4 crore in cash awards, which he has used to help other disabled athletes. India’s other medal in London is Sunder Gujjar’s javelin gold.