Para shuttlers eager to make their mark
As badminton debuts at the Paralympics, Indian players are eyeing a rich haul of medals from Tokyo
LUCKNOW: Before their training base was shifted to the Gaurav Khanna Excellia Badminton Academy on the outskirts of Lucknow, a giant hoarding of London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal at the UP Badminton Academy was a “big inspiration” to all seven Tokyobound para shuttlers. Now, they have found new inspiration in PV Sindhu’s bronze medal success at the Tokyo Olympics.
Two Olympic medallists make for a pretty potent source of motivation for India’s para-shuttlers, who have begun the final phase of their training for the Tokyo Paralympics, starting August 24. Their 12-day strict quarantine begins on Sunday at the Sports Authority of India’s centre here, but they will continue their training at the Excellia Academy.
A chartered bus will ferry these shuttlers and the support staff from the SAI centre to the academy daily. “Quarantine is mandatory for all of us, but at the same time no one wants to miss training, so we have created our own bio-secure bubble. Everyone, including the support staff and bus staff, would be covered under this,” chief coach Gaurav Khanna said on Thursday. “It’s time for our para-shuttlers to make their presence felt at Tokyo and everyone is committed to making a mark on their maiden appearance at the Games. We will come back with a medal in badminton.”
While the Olympics was on, the team worked their training sessions around Sindhu’s matches. “None of the team members missed even a single moment of Sindhu’s matches,” Khanna said.
Out of seven badminton events in which Indians are due to participate at the Tokyo Paralympics, they can expect medals in at least five—including one from world No.1 para-shuttler Pramod Bhagat, who would be competing both in the singles and mixed doubles with Palak Kohli. Others in the seven member team include Manoj Sarkar, Tarun Dhillon, Suhas Yathiraj, who is also the District Magistrate of Noida, Krishna Nagar and Parul Parmar.
Bhagat, 33, who hails from Attabira in Bargarh district of Odisha, has been a consistent performer since 2013 when he got his first gold in men’s doubles in the SL3 category with Manoj Sarkar at the Para-badminton World Championships. His 23 gold, nine silver and 13 bronze medals in international events, including a gold and a bronze at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Para Games, are testimony to his successful run in the sport.
Bhagat is still hungry and said that only after winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics he can think of taking a break. “Badminton is going to make its first mark at the Paralympics and I am raring to go for my first big gold medal at Tokyo. Certainly, the expectations are very high from our para-shuttlers, and especially from me. It’s not going to be easy but I am working hard here at the camp with an aim to win a gold. My major focus would on the singles. Saina has been my inspiration since long, and Sindhu’s show both at 2016 and the 2020 Olympics have set a new benchmark for all of us.”
Bhagat, who is part of the 54-member contingent of India athletes at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, would begin his singles campaign in SL3 on September 1.