Para athlete Sachin Chamaria wants to keep tricolour flying at World Boccia

Sachin Chamaria, an Indian para athlete, has now set his sights on flying the tricolour at the 2026 World Boccia Championships in Seoul, scheduled from 24 August to 4 September. A silver in the BC3 Pairs event, where he partnered Sarita Dwivedi, and a bronze in the BC3 individual event at the Cairo 2026 World Boccia Challenger last month have helped him think about raising the bar.

Now in his mid-30s, Sachin did not let a cruel tryst with fate bog him down after a spinal cord injury at the age of 17 changed the course of his life. Following years of rehabilitation, he completed a graduation in commerce and established a career in entrepreneurship before taking up the unheralded discipline in 2021.

Boccia is a Paralympic precision sport designed for athletes with severe physical disabilities. Players aim to place their coloured balls as close as possible to the white target ball, known as the jack. The sport combines precision, strategy and tactical decision-making, with every shot having the potential to change the course of a match.

Sachin competes in the BC3 classification, one of the four Boccia sport classes, designated for athletes with significant physical impairments affecting movement and coordination. Athletes in this class use an assistive ramp to play their shots and work with a sport assistant. The assistant positions the ramp according to the athlete's instructions, while the athlete decides the shot, direction and strategy.

Speaking ahead of his departure, the para athlete said: “Every time I wear the India jersey, I carry the hopes of everyone who has believed in me through this journey. I am deeply grateful to the Boccia Sports Federation of India for giving me the opportunity to represent India and for having faith in my abilities. Winning a bronze and a silver in Cairo, Egypt, is incredibly special, but what means even more is seeing Indian Boccia continue to move forward. I hope these performances encourage more athletes with disabilities to take up the sport and help create greater awareness and opportunities for Boccia in India.”