Mumbai: 4-ft fisherman-turned-para-badminton player eyes world c'ship gold

The parabadminton player aims for a shot at Bandrarsquos Carter Road PicSneha KharabeA bunch of kids on their way to school stop in their tracks and stare at Mark Dharmai as he crosses the street to meet us on Bandras Carter Road Its not the badminton racquet or a barrel of shuttlecocks in his hand that have caught their attention They size him up four feet and two inches Till date people on the street and children particularly jeer and mock me Initially it would affect me but over the last few years I have taken it in my stride Success on the world stage has helped smiles the 32yearold showing off a few backhand shots for the benefit of the midday photographerDharmai tries his hand at fishing in a still from the campaign videoHis newfound confidence is courtesy the world rankings he holds in parabadminton As per BWFs Badminton World Federation records from November 2016 he stands third in Mens Doubles and Mixed Doubles Category and 10th in Mens Singles Category Next week he flies off to Bangkok to participate in Thailand ParaBadminton International Tournament and in August he will be in Canada for World Dwarf Games An ongoing crowdfunding campaign of 885 lakh on FuelADream is instrumental in giving wings to this paraathletes dreamsMark Dharmai third from right at the Asian ParaBadminton Championship 2016 in BeijingCasting the netAn East Indian resident of Bandras Chimbai Village Dharmai was born with achondroplasia a form of dwarfism At the age of eight he discovered his disability I would ask my parents why my physical growth wasnt the same as my classmates They wouldnt tell me but when they took me to a doctor for treatment I figured it out My parents were my biggest support during a traumatic childhood says the commerce graduate from St Andrews College who spent his growing up years accompanying his father a local fisherman on the boat Assisting him was an economic compulsion I didnt enjoy fishing because the seawater is polluted I left it once my focus shifted to badmintonCreate a racquetAs a child Dharmai remembers watching his uncle Leo play hockey and football in nationallevel competitions with fascination Fr Evan DSouza his principal at St Andrews High School also encouraged him to participate in interschool hockey and football competitions In 2010 Dharmai realised that his calling was badminton through the now defunct social networking portal Orkut I wanted to know if there were any sport competitions for dwarfs So I posted the question and Venkatesh Raman sir a badminton coach suggested that I compete in the paralympic category at a nationallevel competition for dwarfs that was being held in Bengaluru With financial help from my friends I landed there It was the first time I stepped on the badminton court I didnt even know how to hold a racquet However I grew to love badminton because it helped me use my strong upper body I was also more comfortable playing an individual sport because of low selfesteem he sharesSmashing every hurdleWithout any formal coaching Dharmai spent three years mastering the racquet sport by watching videos of badminton champions like Chen Long China PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal He would also practise rigorously sometimes with senior citizens at The Bandra Gymkhana which offered him a probono membershipIn 2013 Dharmai clinched his first international medal at a world championship in Germany and since then has been winning consistently on the world stage Playing a singles match is more challenging because I need to traverse the entire court on my own It requires me to take twice the number of steps than an ablebodied person On the parabadminton court the rules are the same and so is the height of the net So reaching for the shuttle and striking it above the net is challenging In other countries the national associations help dwarfs with fitness training diet and scientific coaching but thats not the case here In fact we dont even have a dwarfs census he shares adding that about 10 to 12 dwarf badminton players play in the countryThe road aheadToday Dharmai is surrounded by a team of supporters including a life coach and naturopath who help with his fitness training and plan his vegetarian proteinrich diet I miss eating Sorpotel and Vindaloo he laughs All this so that he can remain in shape for four international tournaments this year Having achieved the original target of 385 lakh within three days of launching the campaign Dharmai has been able to fund his trips to Thailand and CanadaThe extended campaign live for another 20 days will help him raise funds for airfare and accommodation for world championships in USA and South Korea to be held at the end of the year My aim is to participate in Tokyo 2020 Paralympics I wish to start a sports academy for dwarfs and have a football team which will play against Brazil or Argentina in Mumbai Were told the academy will be called Little GiantsPerfectLog on to fueladreamcom