Mumbai: Aruna Tanwar, a para-taekwondo athlete from India, earned the gold medal in the women's 47 kg division at the Asian Para-Taekwondo Qualifying Tournament in Tai'an, China, on Sunday, guaranteeing her place in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
Hangzhou 2022 bronze medallist Aruna, became the first Indian para-taekwondo player to qualify and participate in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. She will now participate in her second Paralympic Games in Paris, the Sports Authority of India informed in a post on X, formerly Twitter, IANS reported.
Nepal and the Philippines besides India also clinched a Paralympic quota place for Paris 2024 with Palesha Goverdhan of Nepal bagging her quota in women's 57 kg. Like Aruna, she will also be participating in her second Paralympic Games.
Allain Ganapin (men's -80 kg) of the Philippines also qualified for his second Paralympics, but he was unable to compete at Tokyo 2020 due to a positive COVID-19 test and will now prepare for his Olympic debut. Seven countries won Olympic quotas for the Paris 2024 Paralympics at the Asian Qualifiers with Thailand claiming three berths.
Besides Aruna Tanwar, Muskan (under 52kg) and A Linciya (under 65kg) competed for India in the women's weight divisions while Sadham Hussain (under 63kg) was the lone Indian male player who participated in the Asian Qualifiers.