How 'bechaari' Palak Kohli romped to Tokyo Paralympics

On the day when teenage shuttler Palak Kohli qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics all that she emphatically recalled was how a seven to eight minutes meeting in 2016 changed her life foreverKohli 18 qualified for Tokyo Paralympics in both singles SU5 Standingupper limb impairment category and doubles events The Jalandhar lass made it to Tokyo on the basis of her ranking Kohli is World No 12 in singles and No 5 in doubles where she will pair with Parul ParmarKohlis left arm is underdeveloped since birth She cant thank her coach Gaurav Khanna enough for showing her a future in parabadmintonMy parents and I were coming out from a mall in Jalandhar when I met sir I was used to it by then with people often asking me what happened to my hand and they would sympathise with me A disability that is visible hurts more I never liked being viewed a bechaari one whom people feel sorry forSo when I met sir he told me that I can try parabadminton and I have a great future and career Till then I had never heard about parasports He just said this much and left Kohli told middaycom from a national camp in LucknowA year later Kohlis parents began a frantic search on social media to trace the person who they had met outside the mall as their daughter was keen to take up badminton Being left out of the handball selection trials in her school triggered Kohli to take up sportsEveryone from our class had to participate in it I was with my friends in the queue but my teacher took me aside and said it is better I just concentrate on academics and not think of playing sport If I hurt my other hand I would have nothing then I felt horrible that day Kohli saidI did not share the anger and pain with my parents as I knew I have to find a way to deal with such situations I decided to focus on badminton and the search for that person whom I met began We looked on social media and finally managed to source out sirs contact Thereafter my life has changed I cant believe what I have been able to achieve all this in just three years a thrilled Kohli saidCoach Khanna set shorter goals for Kohli and smartly planned her international itinerary which would not be too heavy on her pocketIn her debut national championship in 2019 Kohli swept all titleswomens singles doubles and girls U19Later that year Kohli suffered a bone marrow setback forcing her to stay away from any action for at least three monthsKohli in April returned to competitive sport and won a silver in singles and a bronze in doubles and mixed doubles events at the Dubai Para Badminton tournamentEver since the confirmation of Tokyo Paralympics we have swung into action with focussed planning and practice she concludedAlso ReadPV Sindhu wants to have breakfast with Serena Williams