IIT’ian Kumar to flaunt India’s hold at the Para Asian Games 2018

The story of Nitish Kumar is the appropriate dose of encouragement and motivation. The 23-year-old is a para badminton shuttler who has been competing in various international championships and representing the nation globally. The professional met with an accident back in 2009 that took all his abilities to lead a normal life in the future. Kumar was flat on his back for months, and the accident led him an immutable damage. However, the fatal injuries could not hinder Kumar and his crowning accomplishment from his selection in the Men’s Doubles SL3-SL4 category for the Para Asian Games 2018. According to Para Asian Games 2018, latest news, the tournament will embark from October 8 to 16 and it will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In the year 2013, the young man developed his interest in badminton, while he was still studying at IIT-Roorkee. The next year, he got admission in IIT-Mandi to follow up his BTech Degree in the Department of Electrical Engineering. In the institute, Kumar also became a part of the NSO programme. This programme is especially held as a sports course for the first-year students of the institute.

Kumar, being interested in the NSO Programme, promptly joined other abled athletes at his institute and was involved in an arduous practice for two years. Later in 2016, he got the golden opportunity to partake in the India Nationals, which was his first ever para tournament. That’s how his amazing and motivational journey began. Kumar also gained a lot of popularity after representing India at the Asian Para-Badminton Championship 2016. After that, there was no looking back for the man with guts. The shuttler competed at the Ireland Para-Badminton International 2017 before hustling at the Thailand Para-Badminton Championship this year.

His elbow grease efforts yielded amazing outcomes and currently, the shuttler has acquired the World No 8 spot at the BWF ranking, while National No 3 in Para-Badminton. As quoted in TOI, Kumar said, "People do not expect us to be in sports. Even after competing at international level, we are unnecessarily pitied upon,"

Currently, Kumar is contending because of the lack of systematic practice procedure for the Para-Badminton players. This is a grave reason why they fail to practice with each other. The situation is not only hampering the players but it is also perilous for the performance of the entire team in the upcoming tournaments.

The Head National Coach of Indian Para-Badminton, Gaurav Khanna also has some views on this matter. As cited in TOI, Khanna said, "Paralympic sports do not receive as much craze as other sports in India and para players still face scarcity of resources and support. Most of the times, even physiotherapists are not there with para players during tournaments. But the scenario is changing after the Rio 2016 Paralympics,"

He also gave his opinion on the anonymous alleys and openings. He added, "Many youngsters with physical, vision and intellectual disabilities who have a spark for sports do not know how to pursue their passion and the sole reason is lack of awareness. Also, for para-athletes, there are no renowned practice spaces like Gopichand Academy to make a one-spot hub to nurture talent and skills."