Sukant Kadam

Started: He took up badminton during his college studies. (olympics.bwfbadminton.com, 10 May 2020; BWF TV YouTube channel, 03 Apr 2020) Reason: Although his father had told him to stay away from sports after he acquired his impairment, he began playing badminton socially as a student. "There were a few guys who said, 'You can't participate because your movement is very slow, so we think you should go for indoor, sitting sports like chess'. So I didn't play that year but I started practising on my own, and then I played good, I beat almost all college players. When I played in my first national event, I won. People started to appreciate me a lot." (olympics.bwfbadminton.com, 10 May 2020; BWF TV YouTube channel, 03 Apr 2020) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 28 Dec 2021) Additional Info: OCCUPATION He has worked as a sports officer for the Government of Maharashtra in India. His parents were more supportive of his sporting career after he got the job. "After finishing the engineering [studies], I thought I should give two or three years at least for Para badminton. When I started to win international medals and got so much exposure, the government offered me a civil service job. My father said, 'Okay, now that you have a job, you can continue in badminton'." (Cyrus Says YouTube channel, 18 Oct 2021; olympics.com, 09 Apr 2021; sportsmatik.com, 08 Apr 2021; olympics.bwfbadminton.com, 10 May 2020; BWF TV YouTube channel, 03 Apr 2020)