Indian shuttler Sukant Kadam, who won a gold in the National Para-Badminton Championships in Bhubaneswar, wants to continue the winning momentum as he eyes podium finish in the Paris 2024.
After securing gold at the Uganda International tournament, World No 4 Sukant Kadam continued his great run and won gold in the SL4 category in the recently concluded fourth National Para-Badminton Championship.
"Gold medal in Uganda was very special to me and then winning the national championship for the first time is a dream for me. It was one of my targets and I am very happy that I have achieved my goal. I hope this winning momentum continues," Sukant Kadam told ANI after winning gold in the tournament.
The ace shuttler defeated world no 2 Tarun Dhillon in three gruelling sets to win the title. While Tarun Dhillon had qualified for the Tokyo Paralympics, Sukant missed out by a whisker for the Games in 2021.
The shuttler from Maharashtra has now set his focus towards the Asian Games and World Championships scheduled to be held next year, however, his ultimate goal is to qualify for the Paris Paralympics.
"Both the tournaments are very important, I am aiming for Asian Games and World Championships. But before that I will be in the international circuits starting with the Spanish tournament," said Sukant Kadam.
"My ultimate goal is the Paris Paralympics as I had missed out on the Tokyo Games qualification by a small margin and I am going to make sure the same mistake won't happen again," he added.
Sukant, who had to face defeat in the men's doubles event in National Para-Badminton Championship, admitted that the competition in the tournament was tough as players know each other's game.
"I feel the national championship is a little more difficult than international circuits as we know each other's game anyone can win on a given day. In international events we feel more comfortable," he signed off.
