After Tokyo heartbreak, Sukant Kadam eyes redemption at Paris Paralympics 2024

Published at :December 16, 2023 at 11:02 PM

Modified at :January 14, 2024 at 12:24 AM

(Courtesy : The Statesman)

He won two medals at the Asian Para Games in Hangzhou.

Sukant Kadam from Maharashtra is geared up for the upcoming Paris Paralympics 2024. He missed out on qualifying for Tokyo Paralympics in badminton men’s singles SL-4 category, but hopes to overturn his fortunes and medal at the world’s biggest event. The athlete made his international debut in 2014 and in over a decade, has produced remarkable success. Only three years after his debut, Kadam rose to world number two in the singles rankings.

In the recently concluded Asian Para Games 2023, he secured two bronze medals and prior to this had won several BWF World Tour tournaments this year. Khel Now got an opportunity to interact with Sukant Kadam on his career and the road ahead.

On the Tokyo Paralympics heartbreak Sukant Kadam iterated, “Honestly, I was totally upset and with Covid-19 at its peak during that time there were health concerns as well. It was definitely a heartbreak, and I will not be able to forget that, but in the end, it is part of life. However, I knew that there will be more opportunities available in the future and I have to make sure to make use of it.”

It wasn’t easy for Sukant to take up badminton at the start as the sport wasn’t popular and more importantly not part of Paralympics. “When I took up badminton, I usually participated in abled body tournament where the competition was very high. Seeing Girish N Gowda win silver medal at London Paralympics was the turning point in my career. Prior to this, I didn’t know if there were separate events for differently abled athletes.

“When I took up badminton, I started looking out to see if there is any dedicated association in place or if there is any specific tournament. After sometime, I got to know that there was the World Championships held for para shuttlers, but the sport was not part of Paralympics. This made me think about pursuing other sport which was part of Paralympics.

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“Since, I was very good in badminton, I wanted to achieve greater heights and didn’t want to leave the sport in which I was very good at. This was the time when I took up badminton professionally and in the due course of time the sport was added to Paralympics cycle in 2020.

Like many Indian child it was a difficult task for Sukant Kadam to convince his parents in taking up badminton. Being an engineer, there were good chances for the Maharashtrian to get into the corporate world and get settled, rather he chose the other way around.

“In 2015, other sports had little backing, which discouraged many people from pursuing them as a profession. I persuaded my brother first, who shared my vision. Meanwhile, my mother was supportive, but my father preferred me to get a job instead of choosing badminton as a full-time career.”

“My parents were pleased with my success, as I had picked a good career option that also landed me a job. Dedication is the key to making any tough decision, and the outcome will come naturally. This way, we won’t need to persuade people with words, but by our results.

Thoughts on the overall season and preparations for Paris

“I had an excellent start to the season and to be more precise, I almost finished on the podium in almost all the tournaments I participated in. Apart from this, winning two bronze medals in Asian Para Games was surreal. Overall, it has been a great season, and I am looking forward to keeping up the momentum ahead of Paris Paralympics 2024.

“Going by the preparations for Paris, I have been performing well and have good number of points. We legit have only one tournament left in the qualification cycle – World Championships in 2024. After the qualification ends, we are hoping to go to Paris and train at the designated centre to get accustomed to the conditions.

Rivalries against world’s best

“In my category five to six shuttlers are very good and on any given day everyone has equal chances of winning. Suhas Yathiraj was ranked below before Tokyo, but he went onto medal at the Paralympics. The rivalry with Mazur — current WR-1 — has been good this year as we have shared equal spoils.

“Prior to this year, Mazur was very dominating but this year he has been held during occasions and going forward there won’t be any easy matches.

“Personally, playing against Indians is very difficult as they know everything about me from my tactics to game play. We train together and get to know where we are strong and weak at.”

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