By YKA Staff:
Last year, India had its best ever medal tally yet at the Rio Paralympics with a total haul of 4 medals – 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze. Support for our players, both at the Olympics and the Paralympics was unprecedented and though lots still needs to be done, it was good to see the country get behind sports other than cricket for a change.
For reasons most of you would know and agree with, sportspersons in India hardly get their fair due. And it is only after they have won a medal that the State wakes up to felicitating the players, often not even that and the players have no option but to fend for themselves.
Much has been written about who is to blame for this, and so we will skip that here. Rather than wait for others to fix things, this time, let’s just get to it ourselves. Of course, we will work to bring those to be held accountable to book later.
Unknown to many, Sukant Kadam, a paralympic badminton player has been earning India accolades and till early 2016 was ranked number 14 in the world in his category. World no. 14 – just imagine that! Tragically, his rank fell to number 20 by the close of the year. Only because he didn’t have enough funds to keep playing tournaments that a player needs to, to hold on to his rank. And that’s a huge loss for India. One of our players who was working hard to do his best and making us proud, was unable to do more because there was no one supporting him.
But not this year. Not if we can do something about it.
Sukant is determined to break into the top 5 world rankings this 2017. He also MUST reach top 5 if he is to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020 and represent India at this huge arena. The only way he can do that is if he plays at least 6 international tournaments this year. And for that, he needs funds. Funds that we, you and I, can help him with.
While the authorities have declared it a ‘No Cost To Government’, Sukant is hopeful he will get to play the first tournament that is coming up this year – the VI Spanish Para-Badminton International, to be held in Mallorca, Spain from 7th to 12th March, 2017.
And to achieve that aim, he is running a crowdfunding campaign here.
So India, it’s now your turn to show that you care. That you care enough to do something about it. Sukant Kadam is doing his part as a sportsperson making India proud. Will his fellow Indians make him proud too?
Even the smallest of contributions could go a long way in helping Kadam step on that court. All you need to do is to go here – – and click on contribute now. It’s simple and easy and takes no time at all. Share with your friends and family and let’s really show Sukant that his fellow Indians have his back.
So what say, c’mon India Dikha do?