What’s the story?
Visa struggles are forming an obstacle for Indian Para-badminton Players Sukant Kadam and Vikram Kumar as they prepare to represent the country in the Para-Badminton International tournament to be held in Ireland in a few days’ time.
The context
The 2017 FZ Forza Irish Para-Badminton Open is all set to be held in National Indoor Arena in Blancherstown, Dublin between the 20th-25th June with over 150 athletes taking part.
In plea for help cloaked as a tweet, Sukant Kadam claims that both he along with fellow shuttler, Vikram Kumar are struggling to get their visas processed for Ireland.
The heart of the matter
Indian Para-badminton players have time and again proven their might and talents on the court. This very season saw them bring back home prestigious accolades. The Indian Para-badminton team won 13 medals at the Uganda Para-Badminton International 2017 that took place in between 27th-30th April.
Furthermore, the team outperformed everyone in the recent Thailand Para-Badminton International 2017 by bagging a record breaking total of 7 medals with the outstanding feat of finishing both first and second in the MS SL3 category (Men’s singles with impairment in lower limbs).
Following up on his success in the Spanish Para-Badminton International where he earned two bronze medals, Sukant Kadam went on to bag the Silver medal in the MS SL3 category through his excellent performance in Thailand. This is one amongst the many achievements that Kadam has managed recently.
Visa and passport struggles are not new for our players and have been debilitating their growth in the past. Recently, para-athlete Vikram had to reach out through twitter stating that he would be unable to participate in the Spanish Para-Badminton International because his issued visa had been cancelled.
Fortunately, his visa was re-issued after his plea was responded to by the Ministry Of External Affairs and not only did he go on to participate in the tournament but also won a bronze medal for India. Although the scenario had a happy ending, it was definitely an unnecessarily stressful process for him and many others.
What’s next?
Considering that the Ministry of External Affairs has intervened previously, only time will tell if they do so in Kadam and Kumar’s well-deserved case as well. In the meantime, the shuttlers continue to reach out to various sources to ensure participation.
Author’s take
Visa struggles are just one part of the problem. There have been cases in the past where these exceptionally talented athletes have had trouble raising funds for their participation and sometimes resort to crowd-funding for the same.
Having consistently proven to be excellent at what they do, the only thing that these athletes should be worrying about is their performance on the court and not how to get there. It is about time that the government recognises this unfair deficit in the system and supports these players with the necessary funds, infrastructure and logistical arrangements.
