NEARLY 300 PARA-ATHLETES from eight oil and gas public sector undertakings (PSUs), including Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), are set to compete at the 7th ONGC Para Games, beginning on 26 February at the Thyagaraj Stadium.
The previous edition drew 312 para-athletes from eight PSUs. The opening ceremony for this year’s Games will also take place on 26 February at the same venue in New Delhi.
Employee-athletes representing BPCL, EIL, GAIL, HPCL, IOCL, MRPL, OIL and ONGC will compete across disciplines, reflecting a sector-wide commitment to inclusive employee engagement. ONGC alone will field 170 employee-athletes in this edition.
The multi-discipline event will feature athletics, table tennis, badminton, swimming and wheelchair racing. Athletics will attract the largest field with 251 participants, followed by badminton (160) and table tennis (125), while 21 athletes will compete in wheelchair race events.
Competitors from a range of disability classifications including hearing and speech impairment, upper and lower limb disabilities, visual impairment (low vision and no vision), and wheelchair users will take part.
The Games will also see the presence of accomplished para-athletes such as Manasi Joshi, alongside Jummanna Wadageri, Arunkumar S Makkalageri, Sannamaresha, Mantu Kumar, Riddhi Thacker, Aman Tipu Chauhan, Dilbagh, Rahul Gupta, Pradeep Chahal, Nirmalkumar Patel, Madan Kumar and Joby Mathew, further elevating the profile of the event.
