Braving odds, Para-athlete Sunder Singh qualifies for Rio Paralympic

Today we are sharing the success story of Para-athlete Sunder Singh, who lost his hand to an accident, went into depression but then got hold of himself for his dreams and has now qualified for the Rio Paralympic with a record-breaking spree. The Rio Paralympic games will take place from the coming 7th-18th September.

Sunder Singh talks about the accident

“It was December 2015 and a Sunday. We have an off from our practice sessions on Sundays so I went to my friend’s place with him. There I saw his father working and went to help him out in his work. But then a teen shade somehow slipped and fell on to my hand because of which, I ended up losing my left hand and my life changed for a lifetime”, says Sunder.

He thought it was the end of his sporting career and spent several days locked up in his room. But then coach Mahaveer Saini and Dronacharya awardee RD Singh helped him recover and he was back to training within a month.

Sunder Singh qualifies for Rio Paralympic

20-year old Sunder, belonging to Devlen village of the Karoli district in Rajasthan, has previously won 7 Golds and many more medals in national and school national games. Since 2009, he has been training for Javelin throw at SMS stadium, Jaipur. Even after having lost his left hand to an accident, Sunder Singh didn’t sit back for long. He has recently created a national record with a throw of 68.42m, which is 6m more than the previous world record, and has qualified for the Rio Paralympic, which will be organized from 7th to 18th September this year.

Other challenges

Sunder also shared that his father is a heart patient, because of which he hid the incident of losing his hand from his father. He also doesn’t have a sound financial status so, when he needed money for his treatment, one of his friend, who is a vegetable vendor in Raja Park, lent him Rs.20,000.

Sunder hopes that the ministry will now help him financially to compete in a couple of international events before Rio.

Dronacharya awardee RD Singh says

“If all goes well, you will see Sunder willing an Olympic medal. His throw today was excellent and he can easily add a couple of meters by the time of Rio.”

May RD Singh’s words come true and we have another Olympic medal for India by para-athlete Sunder Singh.