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Para Shuttler driver Pramod Bhagat wants to emulate the legendary Lin Dan by winning an unprecedented five times Globalism championship titles and also standing on top of the podium at the 2024 Paris Games.
The 34-year-old Indian claimed his fourth world title in the Men’s Singles SL3 (Standing Pose/Lower Limb Weakness/Extreme) last month in Tokyo.
This title brought his total tally to 11 world championship medals, including six golds, two silvers and three bronzes across categories.
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And he had won two gold medals in men’s doubles in the 2013 and 2019 editions of Dortmund in Basel, and two silver medals came in the 2015 Stock Mandeville doubles and this year in Tokyo. He won singles bronze in 2007 and 2017, along with a bronze in men’s doubles in 2007.
“I want to become a five-time world champion like Lin Dan in singles. This is one of my goals, besides winning the 2024 Paralympic gold.”
Two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan is the only driver to win five world championship titles.
Bhagat, who has the distinction of reaching the finals in all editions, except for the 2007 and 2017 world championships, said the “clever move” to switch the base to Bangalore to train helped him win his fourth world title.
“I transferred to PPBA (Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy) Bangalore in August. I wasn’t doing well so I decided to change the place and looked for the guidance of experienced coaches like Vimal Kumar, DK Sen and Sagar Chopra.
“I trained for two months in Bangalore before the world championships and the results are showing. From the second week of February, the qualification cycle for the Paralympic Games starts, so I plan to start training from the first week of January.
“I feel confident that if I continue to train in Bangalore, I will be able to achieve my goals. We have to make such smart moves if we are to perform.”
Bahjat also said he “plans to train in Paris from time to time for a month or so before the Games”.
The Bihar-born badminton player won three gold medals at the Spanish Para-Badminton International II Championships, before returning with two silver and one bronze medals at the Spanish Para-Badminton International Championships.
He also won a gold medal at the 4th International Fazza Dubai Para Badminton Championships in May.
However, he could not go the distance in Brazil and Canada, coming back with bronze and silver medals, respectively, in April and June. He also finished as runner-up in the men’s singles in Thailand in August.
“In the Olympic year I won a lot of tournaments but this year I couldn’t win much so I slipped to number two in the world from number one. I was a bit disappointed but I got the world title back last month so I am happy with that”.
“So going forward to take back first place will be one of the goals.”
Bhagat was also nominated for the Male Para Badminton Player Award by the International Federation (BWF).
“It will be very difficult to win the award because I haven’t won many tournaments this year. I don’t expect much. I have been nominated for the award for three years in a row, let’s see what happens.”
“I am focusing on the 2024 Olympics, this is my main priority. Next year, there is an Asian Games and also the World Championships in 2024 is another important event.”
Bahjat is happy with the way badminton is growing in the country.
“If you look at the results of the World Championships, it was poor this year as we won more than 20 medals last time and this time it was 16.
“But many young players have picked up the game, there has been a lot of growth after the Paralympics. Players like Hardik (Makar), Nihal (Gupta), Nithya (Sri) and Manisha (Ramdas) are all playing well. So the future is bright for them. to the likeness of the Indian feather.
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