Hyderabad: “It is baffling to us that despite representing India at the highest level, we are still being treated like second-class sportspersons by the sports authorities,” rued Anand Kumar, winner of two gold medals in the singles and doubles categories at the recently concluded Peru Para-Badminton Championships.
Anand, who is from Bengaluru, was speaking at a felicitation ceremony organised by the Aditya Mehta Foundation in the city to recognise the performances of him and Girish Sharma after they bagged top honours for the country in the para-badminton event held at Lima, Peru.
Anand was diagnosed with polio in the right leg and right hand early in his life. This not only affected him physically but also impacted him mentally. Trying to prove a point that physical disability is not a hurdle for his ambitions, Anand started playing badminton. “I was not getting equal treatment, everybody saw me through the glass of sympathy. That’s when I started playing badminton and since then it has become my passion,” he said. A winner of many para events, Anand achieved top spot in para athletes ranking of Badminton in 2013.
But after such glowing performances, he did not get much help from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) or the Paralympic Committee of India. Financial assistance came in the form of non-profit organisations like Aditya Mehta Foundation.
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