With the Indian team winning five medals in the 23rd Summer Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey, it was to the 46-member contingent’s disappointment that their medals and heroics went unheard of when the team landed in New Delhi on Tuesday to not find a single person to welcome them back after their feats, unlike the deluge that swamps the airport when a triumphant cricket or hockey team returns home. The hearing-impaired contingent is now staging a protest at the Delhi airport.

While team member Virender Singh secured gold in the 74 kg freestyle wrestling, other members such as Ajay Kumar and Sumit Dahiya won bronze medals in 65 kg and 97 kg respectively. Other winners included golfer Diksha Dagar, who won a silver, while Prithvi Sekhar and Jafreen Shaik earned bronze medals in men’s doubles tennis event.

“All we want is either the sports minister or any government official to appreciate our players,” said Ketan Shah, all India council interpreter and project officer.

“These medal winners made our nation proud but no one, not even the sports minister, came to welcome us. We tried to get in touch with the Director General of the Sports Authority of India and Sports Minister Vijay Goel but they didn’t pay any heed,” Shah said, adding, “We had informed them on July 25 itself that we will be arriving on August 1 but we didn’t receive any response.” It’s a bit let down for the team, Shah was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.