PUTTING PARA-BADMINTON ON EQUAL GROUND

Their testimonies underline the transforming power of sport, especially in circumstances where simple, everyday tasks often require extraordinary effort or would be impossible without external assistance.

Para-badminton has given athletes with an impairment hope, independence, dignity, opportunity and courage and they play it with the same passion and tenacity as their badminton peers who compete at the highest level.

Now, they too want that chance of playing at the pinnacle of sport – in a Paralympic Games – and having gold, silver or bronze dangling from their necks. Hearing their national anthem would be pretty good too.

"I found that badminton was my passion and it’s a sport I could master to the highest level, despite my disability," recalled Tay Wei Ming of Singapore regarding his introduction to para-badminton.

"I played other sports but badminton was the one that truly inspired me. I hope by 2020 I would get to take part in the Paralympics."

Cintya Oliveira of Brazil echoed similar sentiments, noting it’s the sport she "really enjoyed the most".

"I play, practise and (it) is really tiring, but I can’t get enough of para-badminton. So it wasn’t me who chose para-badminton but it was para-badminton who chose me!"

Overjoyed and proud, Sanjeev Kumar returned home to India last November with a medal from the BWF Para-Badminton World Championships and declaring, "Impossible is not getting in my life…everything is possible for me. It is the first time to go to a World Championships and I got a medal. My family are waiting to see my medal."

These are but a few of the inspirational personalities behind the rise of para-badminton and the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) motivation to promote and spread this sport globally and, of course, to secure its inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

Stating "para-badminton is its own best advertisement and a compelling argument for its inclusion", BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer noted these are progressive times in the sport’s development.

"We’ve just had our first Level 1 Internationals in Indonesia and England and we’re looking forward to the European (Spain) and Pan-American (Cuba) continental championships in the coming months, as well as the Asian Para Games in October – so there’s lots of activity and our athletes are getting more opportunities to develop and show their skills," he said.

Add to this evolving canvas, upcoming development activities in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Uganda and it is evident para-badminton is on a high. These programmes will focus on training coaches and improving players’ skills and are in keeping with BWF’s avowed policy of developing para-badminton in the same manner as it has badminton; the motto being ‘One Sport – One Team’. Therefore, workshops are often held in tandem with events and these forums aim to increase the complement of classifiers or to upgrade the skills of BWF referees, umpires and technical delegates so they can also officiate in para-badminton tournaments. In another parallel, competitors voted in their first-ever BWF Para-Badminton Athletes’ Commission last year to represent their interest.

Increasing awareness of and interest in the sport globally – para-badminton content on BWF’s YouTube channel has notched more than 260,000 views in the past 20 months – has been another heartening signal.

"It’s an impressive sporting spectacle that I believe can add value to any multi-sports environment," stated Høyer.

He is "quietly confident" this is para-badminton’s time.

Sonja Haesler hopes his presidential intuition is right.

Like her peers, this Swiss para-badminton player has a dream to take her participation in what she calls the "perfect sport" to another level.

"I really hope we are going to be part of the Paralympics. It’s the really big wish of every sportsman and sportswoman and I would like to be a part of it once."

Just maybe she and her wheelchair will be Tokyo bound in 2020.

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