BHUBANESWAR: Pramod Bhagat will be at the Paralympics with only one aim. Hoping to realise his dream of winning gold in Tokyo. “The country expects me to finish on the top step of the podium,” the world No 1 para shuttler told this daily. “After I lost my father many years ago, I also lost my mother last year. I will go all out to bring the Olympic medals for my parents who supported me throughout their lives despite the hardships.”
He added: “In the last year, we trained at Lucknow, with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) providing us the best of facilities. I had spent a lot of my time working on my physical fitness.”
That work bore fruit when Bhagat did well at the Dubai para badminton meet, winning one gold in men’s singles and a bronze in the mixed doubles with Palak Kohli. Apart from featuring at the men’s singles (SL3) event in Tokyo, he will be in action with Kohli at the SL3-SL5 mixed doubles event with Kohli.
He also mentioned about the contribution of his coach, Siba Prasad Das, to his development. “My coach adviced me to try my luck in para-badminton. His belief and my mother’s motivation helped me become an international player.”
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