Gandhinagar para-athlete Parul Parmar did India proud by winning a gold and a silver medal in the women's badminton event at the 2014 Para Asian Games that recently concluded in Incheon, South Korea. Top-seeded shuttler Parul's victory over Kamtam Wannaphatdeein of Thailand in the summit clash of the women's singles (SL 3 category) meant she became the first player from Gujarat to win a gold medal at the Para Asian Games.
The 87-athlete Indian contingent finished 15th in the medal's tally with a total of 33 medals -three gold, 14 silver and 16 bronze. Besides Parul's gold, the two other gold medals came from Amit Kumar and Sharad Kumar.
For the 41-year-old Parul, an Arjuna Awardee, it was a matter of double delight as partnering with Raj Kumar she won the silver in the mixed doubles category after they went down 21-14, 21-15 to the Indonesian pair of Setiawan Fredy and Leani Ratri in 21 minutes.
Parul, who has been polio-stricken since the age of three, has the distinction of being the only para-athlete from the state to have won multiple Para Asian Games medals. She clinched a bronze medal in the same category at the 2010 Guangzhou Para Asian Games.
“After Guangzhou Games, I went to National Institute of Sports, Bangalore in 2011-12 to attend a coaching programme. My game improved considerably after working with top coaches there. My first gold at the world championship in Germany in 2013 and the Incheon gold are the result of the hard work I put in there,” Parul, the sports inspector at the Postal department, said.
Bharat Thakkar, the chief co-ordinator of the Paralympic committee of Gujarat, confirmed that Parul so far is the only para-athlete from the state to have won medals in the Para Asian Games. Parul along with Ranjit Gohil had gone to Bangalore for the selection trials of the Para Asian Games.
