Sukant Kadam, who is a para-badminton player, is gunning for gold in Tokyo Olympics 2021 and he has outlined his journey, his inspiration in Saina Nehwal and his game-changing tweet to PM Modi in this exclusive interaction.
As a young kid, everybody would look forward to the evening time when they would go and play cricket with their friends in the gullies or the maidans in their hometown. The period at the ground is when people enjoy to the fullest with friends. For Sukant Kadam, it was just another day of enjoyment while playing cricket. However, fate had other ideas that day. Sukant fell and injured his left leg badly. He ignored the injury and hid it from his parents. As time passed, the injury turned serious and the infection spread.
He had to undergo surgeries and despite numerous attempts, Sukant couldn’t bend his left knee anymore. The recuperation process was slow and painful. For the next few years, Sukant focused only on his studies and didn’t play any sport. He admitted that he did not think of sports as a career. At the age of 10, his sporting activities would be stalled due to the injury.
Sukant, after finishing his 12th, pursued Mechanical Engineering from Government College of Engineering and Research in Avasari, Pune. It was in college that his interest in sports was rekindled. He developed an interest in badminton, but the injury did not help him qualify in his college team’s selections.
Then in 2012, a great event took place in Indian sport. Saina Nehwal became the first badminton player to win an individual medal in the Olympics and when she secured bronze in the London Olympics, that event was the motivation for Sukant to pursue his dreams. After finishing his studies, he started training under Pune-based coach Nikhil Kanetkar and later shifted to Hyderabad to learn under Pullela Gopichand. He is currently under coach Gaurav Khanna who received Dronacharya award this year.
Speaking exclusively to DNA, Sukant Kadam revealed the spark that fired his interest back in sports. “My biggest motivation to start badminton was after Sania Nehwal’s achievement in the 2012 London Olympics. It was then that I started playing badminton in college and getting medals in the sport, which I was trying to learn. It was a very good moment for me and it was the biggest motivation to get into badminton. I still keep trying to follow Saina Nehwal in many things. We are still in touch with each other as we are from the same academy. So, it was a very good experience playing with her".
In 2018, Sukant had met Saina Nehwal during one of the camps before the Asian Games in Jakarta and he recollected that meeting. "I had gone for the camp and Saina was also there for like one or two months before the Asian Games. So, it was very nice watching her playing and sharing the same arena,” Sukant said.
Tweet to PM works wonders
In India, there is a focus on athletes who are able-bodied and who have the capability to win medals. The individuals who win bronze, silver and gold are feted and felicitated by the government with several awards. The situation is not so similar for the para-athletes. The recent case in point was the 2019 BWF World Badminton Championships.
PV Sindhu had become the first Indian shuttler to win BWF World Championships in 2019. PM Modi had welcomed her to his office and followed it with a tweet stating how the country was proud of her achievements. However, in the same competition, Indian Para-badminton athletes had won 12 medals which did not receive equal appreciation.
Sukant, who had secured bronze in Basel and had also won six international gold and Asian Games bronze, took to Twitter and let the PM know about lack of recognition. In a reply to PM’s PV Sindhu tweet, Sukant wrote, “Honourable Narendra Modi Sir, we Para-Badminton Athletes also won 12 medals in Para-Badminton World Championship and we also want your blessings. Request you to allow us to meet as we missed a chance after Asian Games.”
Did the tweet work? It did. His tweet soon went viral and resulted in the Prime Minister taking note of his request and posting a tweet the next day congratulating all the 12 Para athletes.
Has the situation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi changed? Sukant replies in the affirmative. “Yes, it has changed actually. Before we used to come back to the country and apply for the cash award and should receive it after four or five months. However, after the tweet, it has helped all Para-athletes to get cash on arrival in the country. For example, any athlete with a medal in the World Championship - the biggest event in badminton - they get very quick cash awards and all the facilities from the central government. Sports Minister has helped us to get the cash on arrival and I was requested to meet PM Modi. So it's a bit of a good moment for me to get the attention of PM. The tweet has helped us to make everyone more aware of the achievements of all the players, not just me, but all the players,” Sukant said.
Is he still being treated differently? Sukant did not state it explicitly but said everyone should be treated equally. “Athlete is an athlete, there should not be any categorized like para-athlete or able-bodied athlete or Olympic or Paralympic. The like level of the tournament and the level of competition is almost the same in all the aspects. In fact, para-athletes need to adapt to so many movements with their body and with their disability. They have to address and honour their skills and learn all the key moments and play the sport. So it's much difficult for the athletes, but I think all the athletes are the same and that has to be equally treated,” Sukant said.
Mission 2021 next
Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu have gotten tremendous laurels for the country in badminton during the 2012 and 2016 Olympics in London and Rio de Janeiro. Sukant now wants to go one step further and emulate the feats of Sindhu and Saina by getting glory in 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The coronavirus pandemic forced the Summer Olympics to be postponed by a year and this, Sukant believes, is a blessing in disguise
"The moment when I saw somebody from badminton taking a medal at the podium, it was the biggest motivation for every Indian. I want to do something for my country, and that will be very good. So that is the main ultimate thing I wanted to do. And Paralympics is the only sport you know, is the biggest event in the world for all para-athletes, so our main goal is to achieve it. It has helped me prepare more for the same aim. If you look at last year, things were hectic and we had a short time after qualifying at different tournaments. There was a very short time for preparation, but because of COVID, we got a lot of time and focused on rehab. I, myself tried to recover from all injuries.
Sukant urged the people of India to respect the contributions of the para-athletes in their quest for glory.
"I just want to tell all, that we are trying our best to get the gold medal for the country in the Paralympics. We are doing our best and like everyone, if everybody does the same things and appreciates the small-small achievements of all para-athletes it will be good. I will tell the people that start recognizing the effort of all para-athletes, that will definitely grow their motivation, and definitely, they will bring laurels to our country. The Olympic year is coming near and near and our excitement has grown a lot. Everybody is targeting and pushing their effort for that event because Paralympian is a different thing. That's what every athlete wants in their lives - it to at least represent their country in the Olympics,” Sukant signed off.
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