The Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) have announced the 22 sports that will feature at the next edition of the Asian Para Games which will take place in Hangzhou, China in 2022.
Nineteen of the sports will feature on the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games programme, including Para taekwondo and Para Canoe which will make their Asian Para Games debuts.
The remaining three sports are ones which are widely practised within the Asian region, including Go, a strategy board game played by people with a physical impairment.
For the first time, the APC held an application process for sports interested in being included in the Games. The final decision was made in conjunction with the Hangzhou 2022 Organising Committee and was based on the number of medal events, athlete slots and facilities available.
The last Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018 had 18 sports in the competition programme.
“We are pleased to announce the sport programme three years ahead of the Games and are delighted that we will have 19 of the sports on the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games programme as part of the event,” Asian Paralympic Committee CEO Tarek Souei said.
“This highlights the important role these Games have in helping athletes from Asia prepare for the Paralympic Games both in terms of their own individual performances but also exposing them to a large-scale multi-sport environment.
The scale of these Games helps us to grow the Paralympic Movement in Asia by shining a spotlight on the best of Para sport between the Paralympic Games. The large number of athletes generate interest and media coverage in their home countries and hopefully encourage more people with an impairment to get involved in sport,” Souei added.
The Hangzhou 2022 Games will be the fourth edition of the Asian Para Games and will take place from 9-15 October 2022.
The full list of sports included in the programme:
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Blind football
Boccia
Canoe
Chess
Cycling
Goalball
Go
Judo
Lawn bowls
Powerlifting
Rowing
Shooting
Swimming
Table tennis
Taekwondo
Sitting volleyball
Wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair fencing
Wheelchair tennis
Source: Paralympic.org
