New Delhi: Indian para badminton players have found their sanctuary. It’s called Gaurav Khanna. They go there with hope and come back as champions.

Gaurav is the Head Coach of the Indian Para Badminton Team.

So far, he has helped about a thousand shuttlers bag medals at international games. This includes gold medals at world championships.

Gaurav’s own story is of much heart and hustle.

He was bullied in school because of his humble background. To change this, he joined the bullies. But, since he was not cut for this, he got himself arrested after a clash between two gangs. He was 15 years old.

“Amidst all the darkness, badminton was the light at the end of the tunnel.”

He started training for badminton soon after.

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A twisted knee during the National Doubles Championship 1998 was only a blip.

“It’s not the number of times you fall, it’s the number of times you get back up that defines you,” he says.

It all began at a forgotten railway station in Uttar Pradesh where he was posted under the Railway Protection Force. He came across orphaned children some of whom were deaf. In his capacity as a government official, he was instructed to get rid of the kids as they were a menace on the station.

He instead decided to shelter them. Later, he would provide them with badminton racquets.

He established his academy, Drona Paralympic House, after he injured his other leg in an accident and lost all chances to play badminton again.

“I was on bed rest after double surgery. I thought, let’s do something and show the world what people with disabilities are capable of,” Gaurav says.

He is the first para sports coach to be awarded the Dronacharya Award, India’s biggest sporting award for coaches.

He has trained the Indian shuttlers for the Tokyo Paralympics. His academy has churned out champions like Pramod Bhagat, Sukant Kadam, and Palak Kohli, among others.

He is the man behind Indian shuttlers’ success in the Tokyo Paralympics. His academy has nurtured champions like Pramod Bhagat, Sukant Kadam, and Palak Kohli, among others.

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