Canoeing will make its debut at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games with 10 events being contested at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre on the 23rd and 24th October.
No Asian Country has won a medal in para-canoeing since it was introduced at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and so it is hoped that this debut appearance will encourage future Paralympic success.
At the last world championships, eight Asian countries sent athletes (JPN, IRI, IND, KAZ, KOR, UZB, CHN, THA) but only India’s Pooja Ojha won a medal (Silver in the VL1 W event). Fellow countrywoman, Prachi Yadav became the first Indian athlete to compete in Para-canoe at the Tokyo 2020 Games, but she finished in 4th place, just outside the medals in the VL2 W final. However, the fourth spot does mean that she has qualified a slot for India at Paris 2024, unfortunately Ojha’s medal event will not feature in Paris. China qualified four slots, Uzbekistan two slots and Iran and Kazakhstan one each.
Para-canoe has sprint events only which are contested over 200m. Two types of boat, Kayak and Va’a are used and there are six different classifications.
