Palak Kohli was landed in a dilemma last year when her Class 12 board exams clashed with a qualifying tournament that was, at the time, scheduled to be held in Peru.
But this wasn’t something that scared her, as Palak is differently-abled, has a deformed left hand since birth. Such tough circumstances are not new for her.
She had to choose between exams or badminton and the choice she made had given her more than a satisfying result. The city-based girl has qualified for the para-badminton category of Tokyo Olympics, postponed for next year due to the coronavirus outbreak, and the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).
She shared, “I had to choose between the two and I pursued my bigger aim. My parents were pressurising me to somehow skip a match, manage to return in time and appear for at least three subjects and take the rest as compartment examination. But I told them that I could not take so much pressure as it could affect my performance. So, I missed my exams.”
The 18-year-old is the only one from Punjab and the youngest player to qualify for the game. She started the game just three years back and was quick to excel at it.
She has won 3 gold medals in the women’s singles, women’s doubles and the under-19 singles (girls) in last year’s National Para-Badminton Championships.
2019 was a memorable year for her as she had a great run at the international stage. She won gold in the women’s doubles in Uganda Para-Badminton International, bronze in Japan Para-Badminton International apart from participating in the Para-Badminton World Championships.
In 2020, Palak bagged a silver in the women’s doubles in Peru Para-Badminton International.
Palak said, “Everyone in my family is pursuing a professional degree. My elder sister is a doctor. My elder brother is an engineer and when I told my parents that I want to take humanities so that I could focus on my game, they couldn’t come to take it for quite some time. To pacify them, I took difficult subjects like history, political science and psychology and told them that I would prepare for the UPSC exam to become an IAS. But after I missed my examination, I straightaway opted for Open Schooling and have now taken easy subjects to clear Class XII and keep the focus on my game as well.”
She has started with her practice at Hansraj Stadium here. She has been getting trained in Lucknow under her coach Gaurav Khanna for the past two years.
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Palak said, “I live in a PG there which is just about 500m from my academy. My coach runs the only academy for para-badminton in the entire country and we practise with able-bodied players. I stayed at home for a few days this year.” She has spent this entire year practising and sharpening her skills, besides maintaining form and stamina.
She gives all the credits to her coach for her achievement. “He’s been very good in maintaining data and statistics of each player and we already knew about our points and ranking. I stand fifth internationally and top-6 players are picked.” About qualifying for TOPS, she explains, “This certainly gives me a lot of confidence and a good back up from the government side for getting the best training and facilities.”