ImageCourtesy:@DeepaAthlete/Twitter
Indian para-athlete and taekwondo player Aruna Tanwar has been forced to withdraw from the repechage round of the women’s taekwondo K44-49kg class at the Tokyo Paralympics today due to a probable hairline fracture. She had suffered several injuries during her opening match but she still played the quarter-final match.
Aruna was scheduled for her repechage round in the evening after losing in the quarterfinal match against the fourth-seeded Peruvian Espinoza Carranza. All players who lost in the quarterfinal stages had to play three matches in the repechage round to earn the bronze medal in this event.
For 12th seeded Aruna though, it was an end to her campaign as she suffered a probable hairline fracture during her opening match against fifth seed Serbia’s Danijela Jovanovic which she won 29-9. It was probably the hit on her right foot that may trigger the injury.
Paralympics Committee of India president and former para-athlete Deepa Malik posted on Twitter that Aruba Tanwar got injured in her bout. Calling her a tigress, she added that Tanwar had suffered a probable hairline fracture and continued saying while she won the first match by a great margin, the energy was missing in her second bout due to the injury and the swelling has increased and needs medical attention.
Sorry to inform that our Tigress @ArunaTanwar1 has got injured in her bout. Suspected hair line fracture. She won her first match with a great margin but we could notice the energy missing in second one.swelling has increased n needs medical attention. @Media_SAI @ianuragthakur pic.twitter.com/aPEAvKhvwH
— Deepa Malik (@DeepaAthlete) September 2, 2021
Aruna Tanwar was supposed to face 10th seeded Azerbaijani Royala Fataliyeva in the quarterfinals of the repechage round. The PCI officials have given the reason for Aruna’s withdrawal as a possible fracture of the left forearm and the right foot. They also cited that she is facing severe pain and dysfunction due to these injuries in the withdrawal form and that she won’t be able to continue in the competition.
Aruna, while injured, lost her quarterfinal match against Peru’s Espinoza Carranza 84-21 in a one-sided match. The Peruvian didn’t let her breathe as all of the three rounds went 26-2, 30-10, 28-9 in her favour.
K44 classification is for those para-athletes who have undergone a complete amputation of the arm (or any loss of function) or have impairment/ loss of toes which affects the ability to lift the heel properly. This is to create an equal footing among athletes of similar abilities.
