In A League of Her Own

Para Shuttler Palak Kohli defies overwhelming odds.

- Sudha Hariharan

Four years back, she had not even heard of Para-Sports. A visit to mall became the turning point in her life. A stranger walked up to her and asked her “What happened to your hand?” She candidly explained that it was a birth defect. “Have you heard of para-sports?” he persisted.

Coming from a city which has given us several sportspersons, she and her family were aware of the great respect sportspersons commanded. Hearing about parasports was intriguing and exciting – the stranger suggested she can try her hand at badminton.

Till then, no one had encouraged her to play any sport. This 5-minute chance meeting was about to change her life forever. The stranger was none other than Gaurav Khanna – National ParaBadminton Coach.

As she wings her way to the Tokyo Olympics,18-year-old Palak Kohli become the youngest ever para-badminton player to qualify for a Paralympics. In a zippy tete-atete, Palak talks about her amazing journey.