Para shuttler Pramod Bhagat, gold medallist in the last edition of Para Asian Games, and Sukant Kadam, team event bronze medallist, are determined to script ‘golden’ moments in the coming Para Asian Games.
In a chat with The Hindu, the champion duo of shuttlers shared their thoughts.
“These Asian Games are very important because they are a litmus test for us with the Paralympics just around the corner next year.
Training hard
“They are always tough and I would like to retain my gold medal. I have been training hard and also staying in a positive state of mind about the games.
“The Asiad will be the first step towards preparing and qualifying for the Paris Paralympics,” Bhagat explained.
“I always considered myself as the biggest challenge, it is important to be in the right frame of mind and train hard.
“A major challenge is to stay fit as I am competing in all three categories - singles, men’s doubles (partnering Sukant Kadam - both ranked World No. 1) and mixed doubles,” he said.
“ My coach Das sir and I have been working on certain strategies and game-plan and the focus will be implementing those while playing in the tournament. My strong-point is I don’t take things very seriously, be calm and composed, and enjoy my game.
“There are some really good players like India’s Nitesh Kumar, Manoj Sarkar, and Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara. There has been some new younger crop which has been doing well in the circuit,” Bhagat said.
For his part, Sukant, playing in his second Asian Games, said he would play in the very competitive SL4 category.
Intensity and hunger
“The biggest challenge is to play at the same level of intensity and hunger in all the matches,” he said.
“This year has been a lot of ups and downs so working on consistency is a key for me. I have been either having flawless games or making silly mistakes. So, the focus is working on eradicating mistakes,” Sukant said.
“My strong points are taking the game to the opponent and being aggressive.
“This sometimes becomes a double-edged sword which sometimes bites me back, so the focus is to make sure it doesn’t hurt me very much and try to work out strategies for implementing these game-plan,” he said.
