: Meet The Coach From Lucknow Who is Behind the Wins of India’s Best Para Badminton Players #IndiaNEWS #Disability For 20-year-old Palak Kohli, a career in sports was a distant dream. Born with an

Meet The Coach From Lucknow Who is Behind the Wins of India’s Best Para Badminton Players #IndiaNEWS #Disability
For 20-year-old Palak Kohli, a career in sports was a distant dream. Born with an underdeveloped left arm, all she could do at sports courts was sit in a corner and watch others play.

As a teenage girl with a disability, she would often feel agitated by society’s perception of her. Teachers, peers and those around her would advise her to focus on her studies and get a job through disability quotas. Often, she would burst into tears of helplessness, she recalls.

In 2017, Palak met a stranger outside a mall in her hometown, Jalandhar, Punjab. After introducing himself and asking her about her disability, the stranger informed her about para badminton. “I was someone who was always stopped from playing sports, and this stranger comes out of nowhere and tells me I can do wonders in sports! I found it hard to believe,??? Palak tells The Better India.

Para badminton player Palak Kohli with her coach Gaurav Khanna.

But the idea instilled hope in her, and in 2018, she started practising para badminton under the stranger, who she soon came to know was none other than Gaurav Khanna, head national coach of India’s para badminton team.

Badminton debuted at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020. A seven-member team, including Palak and Arjuna awardee Pramod Bhagat, participated in the game held in 2021. This made Palak the youngest athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics at the age of 19. She also became the first Indian woman athlete to compete in the semifinals in Tokyo and finished with the 4th position.

Badminton came into Palak’s life as a blessing. “My own definition of disability has changed. People who once discouraged me appreciate me now. I don’t want girls with disabilities to be termed as bechari (helpless),??? she says.

From athlete to national para badminton coach

Palak’s success, along with that of 30 other para athletes in Lucknow, is the result of Gaurav’s years-long endeavour. He has trained all of them free of cost.

Gaurav claims his team bagged 600 medals in the Paralympics, of which 200 are gold.

Gaurav tells The Better India, “I am proud of my students — Palak, Mandeep Kaur, Nitya and Manasi Joshi. Nehal Gupta is just 17 but has started defeating other players. We have won 600 medals in the Paralympics, of which 200 are gold. India has not received so many medals in any other sport in senior competitions. ???

A former badminton player, Gaurav himself has a disability of 60 percent and has dedicated his life to training athletes with disabilities and hearing impairments. He has been training para athletes for nearly 15 years.

A resident of Lucknow, the 46-year-old started playing badminton at a young age and went on to win state and national-level competitions.