Sukant Kadam and the painstaking art of going with the flow

A life-changing knee injury took Sukant Kadam away from cricket, but his never-say-die spirit has now carried him further than he ever thought possible as he finds himself embarking on a maiden Paralympic campaign.

Like many mechanical engineers, Kadam has compartmentalised his life with utmost practicality. Everything has a reason, and is as emotionally untangled as possible. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

How much can you go with the flow? How much can you take the curveballs life throws at you on the chin and keep moving forward with a smile? Ask Sukant Kadam. 

A budding cricketer as a young boy, Kadam’s life changed when he injured his knee on the cricket field. Multiple surgeries followed and his leg was saved but the procedures left him with a permanent impairment in his left leg. 

“My family strictly removed me from sports. I used to watch more sports, I wasn’t allowed anything more,” Kadam told  Sportstar ahead of his maiden Paralympic Games in Paris. 

Moving out of home to pursue engineering helped him edge towards sports again. 

“I was never prepared for education,” Kadam, an engineer by qualification, said with a grin. 

“My extra curricular activities were my mainstream and studying was the extra curricular. So that was the opposite of what I was doing those days. I then started learning about new sports. Coming from a village, you don’t know about too many sports. One or two sports max are known and popular there. When you come out, you realise how large the spectrum is.”

The 2012 London Olympics changed the life of a young engineer-in-training from Kautholi in Sangli district, Maharashtra. Watching Sania Nehwal winning bronze in badminton caught his attention and seeing Girisha Nagarajegowda clinch silver in Paralympic high jump introduced him to the world of para sports. 

“Initially, my dream was to play internationally once. Because being a cricket fan, you know how important it is to don that jersey with ‘ INDIA’ written on the back. I didn’t think all of this was written in my destiny and I’d eventually end up accomplishing all this,” Kadam beamed. 

Alongside his mechanical engineering degree at the Government College of Engineering and Research, Avasari Khurd, Kadam nurtured his badminton ambitions in a small hall near the institution. Funnily, he was not picked for his college team, something he still ribs his college mates about. 

“ It’s an old story and my friends still call it a mistake when they call me all these years later. ‘ Ab bolna band karde bhai, galti ho gayi‘ (Stop bringing that up, brother. We made a mistake). 

“I am probably the only one who has stuck to sports. They’ve moved on to corporate jobs and are in the middle of their family life. They’re all so happy and proud of me and my choice to keep going in sport. They always tell me that I am living their dream for them.”

Pause. Play

Cut to 2014. Kadam embarked on his maiden international event in London. He was nationally classified in the SL3 category and was all set to make a case for himself in top level badminton but was in for a shock when he learnt that he was placed in the wrong competition class.

SL3 and SL4 are competing classes in para badminton for athletes with lower limb impairments. SL3 is for those with more severe levels of disability, requiring athletes to play on a half-width court. 

“SL4 meant I had to learn to play full court. There were such accomplished athletes already in this bracket, and I found myself having to deal with new space, new rules. I came in fully prepared for SL3 and its opponents, and I was so confident, but it was all taken away.”

Kadam spent two years away from the sport, perfecting himself for a higher level of competition. He returned to international competitions with an event in Ireland in 2016 and won a medal after beating the then World no.5. He could have turned his back on badminton, but Kadam is not a quitter. 

Sukant with his coaches at Nikhil Kanetkar Academy | Photo Credit: Instagram/Sukant Kadam

He soon found himself at the doorsteps of the Nikhil Kanetkar Badminton Academy where he also took up duties as an assistant coach. Not only did this sort out sustenance for Kadam, but it also gave him two coaches who support him till date - Kanetkar and Mayank Gole. 

Kadam began medaling internationally with consistency. He won bronze in the Beijing Asian Championships in 2016 in Men’s doubles. At the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018, he was part of the bronze medal-winning men’s team. He then picked up a gold medal at the IWAS World Games in 2019, his first major single’s gold. He then won bronze in the men’s singles at the Basel World Championships that same year.

Kadam was all set to take his game to the next level and eyed a spot in India’s contingent for the Tokyo Paralympics. But he didn’t make the cut and that sent him on a downward spiral. 

Existential crisis

“Tokyo was of course a big heartbreak. Everything dropped to zero. I had a lot of dreams and a lot of expectations from myself and the whole thing collapsed within seconds and then picking myself up from that moment was very tough. There was a lot of self doubt and my mind was in a very negative space. It took some time for me to bring up better solutions for myself. Back then, I thought if I’m not headed to the Paralympics, then winning the medal at the World Championships doesn’t count,” Kadam recollected. 

“The bigger your dreams, the more dedication it needs and when it comes crashing, it takes that big of a toll on you. Even now when people mention Tokyo, it pinches. But I have conquered my emotions and made my peace with it.”

Between Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, he picked up three more bronze medals at the Worlds - one Japan (2022) and two in Pattaya (2024), but the pain of missing out on a Paralympic medal changed something in Kadam.

Sukant with his father | Photo Credit: Instagram/Sukant Kadam

His parents, who had once gone all out to prevent him from ever playing sport for fear of more damage to his body, sent out to mend his broken heart. 

“I used to just sit at home and not talk to anyone. They used to come and motivate me and distract me. There were no instructions or orders. They (his family) were so kind to me. 

“When I qualified for the Paris Paralympics, I called everyone at home a day before the announcement. My brother, my sister, my father, everybody was in the same house. I said, ‘See I have gone through this last time and I have a better experience. Don’t worry about what happened around Tokyo happening again. Whether it’s a positive or a negative outcome, I will be the same. There won’t be any change. I will keep following my dreams because it’s my life now. Unless and until my body disagrees with me, I will keep playing.’ “Paralympics, definitely that’s a big dream for me. The moment I didn’t make it to Tokyo, my sights were set on Paris. The dream was renewed then only. Everyone around me said that if I qualify for Paris, we’ll celebrate and if I don’t, then we’ll celebrate for LA.”

Domestic tussle

Kadam will head to Paris without the company of his dear friend Pramod Bhagat who not only misses the Paralympics but 18 months of international competitive time due to a whereabouts failure. 

Kadam and Pramod are a successful men’s doubles pair. They’ve achieved the world no.1 ranking, have a world championship medal among other accolades and are close friends. 

“When this development unfolded, I couldn’t speak to him for a day or two. But when we did, the first thing he said was, ‘Go, get a medal in Paris. Forget everything else. It doesn’t matter and it can’t be changed.’

“It takes a lot of mental toughness to accept something like this and move forward and then tell someone to go and follow their dreams.”

The para badminton ecosystem is a closely knit one, but the competition is as intense as the camaraderie. Just in Kadam’s competing class - SL4 - he has had to keep the likes of Suhas Yathiraj and Tarun Dhillon at bay. In Paris, all three will represent India making it the first time these many Indian para-shuttlers are competing in a single category at the Paralympics.

“SL4 in India is at a very good level now. Any day, anyone can win. We all are afraid of each other. I won’t say I am comfortable with them. Off the court we are the best of friends but on the court, we’re fierce enemies. We never let any moment go and fight for every point, every stroke. 

When he takes his place on court at Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Kadam is well aware of all the tribulations, the naysayers and the bad luck he has left behind. Nothing else matters, the only way is forward. Everything about how he operates goes with the flow. Even his pre-competition playlist. 

“That keeps changing, definitely I do not follow any particular playlist, because if it gets fixed, it becomes a part of the mind. And then when it doesn’t work, I’ll fixate on it. I turn on YouTube music and let the suggestions surprise me. I like calm music, things that can seamlessly blend into what I am doing,” he revealed. 

Like many mechanical engineers, Kadam has compartmentalised his life with utmost practicality. Everything has a reason, and is as emotionally untangled as possible. He is a dream to work with for his coaches, support staff and analysts as he says he views everything on merit. But even the most ‘mechanical’ of athletes has a weakness. For Kadam, it’s a good plate of Hyderabadi Biriyani, a treat he says he has reserved for when he ascends the Paralympic podium. 

For now, there’s no last minute cramming of the syllabus. Just plenty of deep breathes, faith in the process and his trademark ‘taking things as they come.’