India's wheelchair basketball team arrive in Mumbai after fighting the odds

The Indian men's wheelchair basketball team at Mumbai airport on Thursday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

When the Indian men's and women's wheelchair basketball team arrived at the Mumbai airport on Thursday evening following an arduous 10-hour bus journey from Aurangabad, their tiredness was overshadowed by the eager anticipation of representing the country abroad for the first time in a tournament organised by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation.

Both teams, who initially struggled to raise funds to pay for the tournament's fees and their airfare, boarded the flight to Bangkok, where they will participate in the Asia Oceania zonal qualifiers. "At one point, we thought we would not make it to Bangkok, but luckily we received financial support from the government just in time," Indian women's team captain Kartiki Patel told mid-day.

Apart from the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India (WBFI) also sought help from private bodies. "SAI helped us buy the air tickets for some players, while the other tickets were arranged by the paraplegic rehabilitation centres of Mohali, Pune and Amar Jyoti [in New Delhi]. The tournament registration fees were paid by a private company. Other have individuals also helped," said WBFI president P Madhavi Latha. Chief coach Antony Das Pereira said both his teams have the potential to do well, but need better equipment to match international standards.

"I want the government to keep supporting this sport. This is a team event which requires a lot of money. Other countries are playing with high-performance wheelchairs that cost around R2.5 lakh per unit. We are unable to afford them, so we use the normal range of specialised wheelchairs," he said. "Our target is to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, but first we need to qualify for the 2018 Asian Para Games [in Jakarta] by doing well in Bangkok first," Pereira added. Meanwhile, Indian men's captain Prem Ale is confident his team can put up a good show in Bangkok. "Both our teams will qualify. If we are provided with the right facilities, there's no stopping us in the Paralympics," he said.

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