World No1 para-shuttler Sukant Kadam: The discrimination para-athletes face causes hurt and emptiness

Ace shuttler Sukant Kadam is now World No 1, in the SL4 para-badminton category. He recently won gold at the Spanish Para-Badminton International 2025, and doesn’t shy away from taking the responsibility it brings along. “When I now compete next, it will be as the World No 1. So, I must play like one and maintain my position at the top,” he says.

But amid receiving global recognition for this feat, what bothers him is how fellow para-athletes aren’t being cared for enough. Sharing how the love for para-sports remains mostly conditional, the 32-year-old asserts: “Yes, I feel proud whenever I achieve something for my country, but then I also stay grounded in the reality. With able-bodied athletes, whether they win or lose, or get injured — everyone has good and bad days or tournaments — all of this is covered all through the year. But in the case of para-athletes, it’s just the success [that gets talked about]. We have only creamy followers who talk about us from what we achieve at the Paralympics. Unfortunately, only Paralympic medallists get attention, which too is very short lived. But the lone journey and discrimination faced in the four years in between (two Paralympics), make several athletes feel the emptiness and hurt that no one sees.”

Sharing his own experience, Sukant recalls how he finished fourth in the 2024 Paris Paralympics. “I was just a touch away from winning the medal. But, I did not instantly realise ki ek non medallist and ek medallist hone mein kitna farak hota hai… Very few para-athletes get sponsors and endorsement contracts, and that is because no one follows us from the start to the end. Hence many fade quickly.”

Looking towards the brighter side, he is happy to see India host the New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships this month. “It’s a big moment for India and for the growth of para-sports in the country,” says the Maharashtra boy, who has studied mechanical engineering. “I just wish that hum Indians apne para-athletes ko aur zyada encourage karein especially in times when they don’t win. It will be special if the country admires and celebrates our wins and struggles both,” he concludes.