The inspiring story of Manoj Sarkar where his mother mortgaged their house so that he could play in professional tournaments

Manoj Sarkar made the entire nation proud yesterday where he won a bronze medal in the Badminton SH3 category and in the same competition Pramod Bhagat won a gold medal and became the first Indian badminton player to win gold in Paralympics.

Congratulations to Manoj Sarkar for winning the bronze medal in badminton at #Paralympics. This is a praiseworthy achievement indeed. My best wishes that you bring more glory to the nation in the future.

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 4, 2021

2 Indian players on the medal podium with National anthem playing in the background.
Pramod Bhagat & Manoj Sarkar after winning Gold & Bronze medal in Badminton (SL3 category).
Proud moment folks #Paralympics pic.twitter.com/4RgexsHQ8c

— India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) September 4, 2021

Manoj who belongs from Uttarakhand came from humble beginnings and had to work hard to make his dream come true. The way he played in the entire Paralympics 2020 speaks a volume about his champion mentality, never say die attitude, and commitment of doing well in one of the biggest sporting events in the world.

He started his Badminton career by competing against able-bodied before he was introduced to legendary coach DK Sen who encouraged him to take up the para-sport and slowly and steadily he has introduced himself as one of the best in the business.

“I have been playing badminton all my life. Not Para-Badminton per se, but the able-bodied sport.  Yes, I was left disabled when I was just one year old, but then growing up, I had no idea about Para-Sports. By this time I had reached college and was playing for University. This was when I travelled to Almora to play a tournament, where I met DK Sen sir. He is the coach of able bodied youngster Lakshaya Sen. After playing a game over there  one of the player told me that you should represent India in Para Sports where you will do wonder and Sen sir later introduced me to Gaurav Khanna sir who is a para badminton coach and he encouraged me with every detail regarding the game”  Manoj Sarkar said while taking to one of the media outlets.

The emotional part of his journey is his mother who despite having cancer, placed confidence in her son’s abilities and put her house for a mortgage to lend her support for his son’s dreams. Manoj Sarkar will be eagerly looking to replicate the same performance in the upcoming Paris Paralympics 2024.