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Some Lesser Known Facts About Manoj Sarkar

Manoj Sarkar is an Indian Para-Badminton player who plays in SL-3 Classification. In 2021, at Tokyo Paralympics, he won a bronze medal in the men’s singles category after defeating Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara. In 2017, he clinched a silver medal in the single’s event in the BWF Para-Badminton World Championships. GoSports Foundation in India also supports him through the Para Champions Programme.

Manoj Sarkar started playing badminton at the age of five. In an interview with the Bridge, he narrated his childhood struggles to get second-hand badminton to play. He said,

I used to stay in a joint family then and had three cousins of almost similar to my age. Once, someone bought badminton racquets for them, but not for me. I felt very bad and cried a lot. My mother felt bad and gave me 10 rupees, using which I bought a small secondhand racquet for myself.”

Manoj Sarkar played as a general player in three state-level competitions till tenth class. It was former badminton player DK Sen who advised him to play for the para-badminton team after watching him playing well.

In his school days till 11th grade, he played inter-school competitions against able-bodied players. In 2011, he started playing in para-badminton championships.

At the age of one, he was given the wrong treatment after which he suffered from a PPRP Lower Limb condition.

He hails from a modest background in Uttarakhand, India.

In an interview with the Bridge, Manoj narrated that in 2011, he won two medals at para-badminton national championships in Bangalore and after that win,

I was selected for the World Championships after this performance, but we could not go as we did not have sponsors. Then in 2012, I went with my own money. My mother put our house on a mortgage so that I could follow my dream, even though she was a cancer patient. The Go Sports Foundation helped me out as well then; I am still grateful to them and am proud that I am still associated with them. This is how my journey in international para-badminton started, and I have won around 47 medals now at the highest level. It has been a long journey, and now I am part of the first-ever Paralympics badminton contingent from India.”

In 2015, at the BWF Para-Badminton World Championships, he clinched a gold medal in the men’s doubles event.

In 2016, He won a silver medal in the Irish Para-Badminton International championships.

In 2017, at the Thailand Para-Badminton International, he claimed a silver medal in Men’s Singles. In the same year, he won a gold medal at the Uganda Para-Badminton International.

In May 2018, at the Turkish Para-badminton International Championships, he claimed a gold medal.

In 2018, he was honoured with the Arjuna Award for his extraordinary performance in the Para-Badminton championships.

In 2019, he was titled as the Para Sportsman of the Year at the Sportstar Aces Awards. In the same year, he received the Enabler of The Year trophy Go Sports Foundation.

For 2018-2019, he was honoured by the Uttarakhand government with Khel Ratna Award.

After winning the bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Manoj Sarkar dedicated his match to his wife who encouraged him to put his anger on the court. In a conversation with Scroll, he exclaimed,

This is a dream come true and a dream moment. I would like to dedicate this whole tournament and moment to the whole country. But this particular moment I’d like to dedicate to my wife because she has encouraged me to put my anger on the court. The medal is for my country and the match is for my wife.”

Manoj Sarkar does meditation and pranayama regularly. In one of his social media accounts, he posts his picture while sitting in meditation.