Sports News | From India to the world stage: Indian-origin athletes aim to shine at the Paris Games

New Delhi, Jul 22 (PTI) India will not limit itself to the Indian contingent at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.

PTI takes a look at some of the Indian-origin athletes who will represent their adopted countries at the Paris Olympics:

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Rajeev Ram (Tennis, USA)

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Perhaps the most famous athlete on the list, the 40-year-old was born in Denver, USA, to parents who migrated from Bangalore.

Ram’s father Raghav, who passed away in April 2019 from pancreatic cancer and who was drawn by his academic background, was a botanist while his mother Sushma worked as a scientific technician. But Ram chose to break tradition and focus on tennis.

“I am very proud to be of Indian descent and to represent the community in any capacity. In tennis, there are not many of us from the community. Any success we can achieve as a closed group can inspire the next generation to excel,” Rajeev had once said.

Rajeev has played for the US and has achieved considerable success. The tennis doubles specialist has won five Grand Slam titles, including four men’s doubles and one mixed doubles.

He joined Venus Williams to win the mixed doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics. He will compete in the men’s doubles tournament.

Prithika Pavade (table tennis, France)

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Prithika’s father was born and brought up in Puducherry. In 2003, he migrated to Paris after getting married. A year later, Prithika was born in the French capital.

Prithika was a TT player herself and her father introduced her to table tennis at the age of six.

At 16, she first competed at the Tokyo Olympics. The 19-year-old studies chemistry and environmental science and will compete in the women’s singles, where she is seeded 12th, the women’s doubles and the mixed doubles.

Kanak Jha (table tennis, Canada)

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Another athlete of Indian origin competing in the Paris Games is American table tennis player Kanak Jha.

Jha’s mother Karuna hails from Mumbai, while father Arun grew up in Kolkata and Prayagraj. Both are IT professionals.

Jha’s fascination with table tennis began at the India Community Center in Milpitas, California. He and his older sister Prachi, also a TT player, wanted to try the sport right away.

In no time, he began beating players twice his size. To keep him close to his roots, Jha’s mother enrolled him in a Jainshala and Hindishala, centres where he could learn Hindi and Jainism.

The 24-year-old is a four-time U.S. national champion (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and a two-time Olympian (2016, 2020).

He was the youngest US athlete at the 2016 Rio Olympics and also the first American to win a medal at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Argentina. He will compete in the men’s singles event in Paris.

Shanti Pereira (Singapore, Athletics)

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Veronica Shanti Pereira, known as Singapore’s Sprint Queen, has her roots in Kerala. Her grandparents came from Vettukad near Thiruvananthapuram.

But after Shanti’s grandfather got a job in Singapore, the couple emigrated from India.

Last year, Pereira ended Singapore’s 49-year wait for an Asian Games medal after winning silver in the women’s 100 metres.

Pereira, who was named Sportswoman of the Year at the Singapore Sports Awards, will be one of the Lion City’s two flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. She also has a children’s book, Go Shanti Go!, based on her life, written by her two older sisters. She will compete in the women’s 100m race in Paris.

Amar Dhesi (Wrestling, Canada)

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Amarveer was born in Surrey, British Columbia, a small province on the west coast of Canada, to Balbir Dhesi.

Amar, a former Greco-Roman national champion, his father hails from Sanghwal village in Jalandhar district of Punjab. Balbir had trained with NIS Patiala and even got a job with Punjab police but moved to Canada in 1979 in search of greener pastures.

There he started working in a sawmill and in 1985 he founded the Khalsa Wrestling Club for young people in Surrey.

Amar started training with his father and older brother Paramveer at the age of five and competed in his first competition at the age of eight.

Amar, who enjoys watching wrestling videos of bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt at the London Games, made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where he finished 13th in the men’s 125kg freestyle.

He won his first senior gold medal a year later at the Pan American Championships and then captured 125kg gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The 28-year-old will compete in the men’s 125kg freestyle event.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the syndicated newsfeed. It is possible that LatestLY staff has not altered or edited the content.)