The controversial coach was sacked when India announced a 166-man squad for the Asian Para Games

The Sports Ministry has dropped under fire para-shooting coach Jai Prakash Nautiyal from the Indian contingent heading to the Asian Paralympics and cleared the 166-member athletics team after a controversial selection process that sparked protests from shooters and cyclists. The unit comes 5 days after the contingent was officially flagged off in New Delhi.

Long-time national team coach Jeevan L Rai has replaced Nautiyal in the contingent for the Games, which begin in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan on October 18. Nautiyal was accused of not following the set selection criteria and demanding kickbacks in return for selecting athletes, allegations that led to protests by para-shooters and calls for his removal.

SHOOTERS ONLY PROTEST

Several shooters gathered outside the Sports Authority of India (SAI) headquarters to demand Nautiyal’s removal and an investigation into the allegations. They also met Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to present their grievances after they tried to disrupt the contingent’s retirement ceremony last week.

The ministry’s decision to remove Nautiyal comes after the selection process for the continental showpiece was clouded by allegations of irregularities, with para-shooters and cyclists objecting to the way the units were completed.

With 94 team officials and support staff and 15 contingent staff, the total Indian delegation for the Games will be 275 members across 10 disciplines.

PARATHLETICS MAKE UP THE LARGEST CONTINGENT

Para-athletics make up the largest part of the athletics contingent with 62 competitors, of which 46 are men. The discipline will have 36 support staff.

The team also includes world championship medalist Simran, a visually impaired sprinter whose previous guide Umar Saifi was caught in a doping network. In Aichi-Nagoya, he will compete with the new guide Shivam.

The ministry also resisted calls to supplement the paracycling section at the last minute, despite the protests of the left-out cyclists. She approved only Paralympian Arshad Shaikh, who was the best player among the opponents and fulfilled the selection criteria without any problems.

Six other cyclists were selected by the Cycling Federation of India and the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), but were subsequently dropped as they did not meet the criteria.

Prominent names in the table tennis contingent include Paralympic silver medalist Bhavina Patel.

The 28-member badminton team comprising 17 men and 11 women will be led by former world number one and Tokyo Paralympic gold medalist Pramod Bhagat and former Paralympic silver medalist Suhas Yathiraj. The team will have 11 support staff.

Armless compound archer Sheetal Devi, who won two gold medals in the previous Para-Asian Games, will be among India’s leading medal contenders. The 19-year-old world champion will be joined by 18-year-old Payal Nag, who grabbed attention this year by defeating Sheetal at the World Archery Para Series in Bangkok.

The 13-member para-shooting team that has been at the center of a selection dispute includes Paralympic gold medalists Avani Lekhara and Mona Agarwal. Agarwal secured India’s quota place at the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics by winning silver at the recent World Championships in South Korea.

– The end