Paralympics: Canoeist Prachi Yadav reaches final

Tokyo : Indian canoeist Prachi Yadav has qualified for the final of the Women’s Va’a Single 200m VL2 by finishing third in the semifinal race conducted on Friday.Prachi, the 26-year-old from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh who has paralysis below her waist due to polio and uses her upper body to move the boat, finished third in 1 minute 07.397 seconds. She was placed third behind Great Britain’s Jeanette Chippington (1:01.167) and Canada’s Brianna Hennessy (1:06.316) in the five-boat race at the Sea Forest Waterway.Friday’s timing by Prachi was a big improvement on the 1:11.098 she clocked in the heats.

Prachi had finished fourth in the Heat 1 that got her a place in the semifinals. It is also an improvement on the 1:18.31 she clocked while finishing 10th in the World Championship in Szegred, Hungary in 2019.Prachi, who switched to canoeing from para-swimming in 2018 and learned the sport on a makeshift boat designed by her coach Mayank Thakur, trains at the Lower Lake in Bhopal. She is into para-sports since 2007 when she started swimming.The final will be held later in the day.