Palak Kohli working hard in rehab, targets gold in Paris Paralympics 2024

Palak Kohli is one of the most promising youngsters on the para-badminton circuit in India. The badminton player became the youngest player to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics, an event which was a huge learning curve for the youngster.

Although Palak did not win a medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, it motivated her enough to target the gold medal in the upcoming events. Palak played in all three categories - singles, women's doubles (partnering Parul Parmar) and mixed doubles (partnering Pramod Bhagat) at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Palak Kohli spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda on the occasion of signing with Adidas for their "Impossible is Nothing" campaign. She signed alongside strong women athletes including Mirabai Chanu, Lovlina Borgohain, Hima Das and Nikhat Zareen.

"I would say a lot of things have changed since the Tokyo Paralympics, because now people have started looking up to para sports with a new vision. They have started taking a keen eye on the sport. It is also heartening to see how people have started taking disabled people as inspiration in life," she said.

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Palak Kohli's rehab slow

Palak Kohli was diagnosed with a bone marrow edema in her left tibia in 2019 that casted doubts on the future of her badminton career. However, the para-shuttler is making sure to leave no stone unturned in her rehab process, which she terms as a "difficult one."

After returning from the Tokyo Paralympics, Palak Kohli took some time out to recover. She then competed in two tournaments - the Asian Youth Games and Uganda International - and emerged with flying colors from the tournaments.

However, Palak knows the road to complete recovery is long and will not be easy. She said:

"For the last year-and-a-half, I've been dealing with this bone marrow edema issue in the tibia bone of the calf in my left limb. Things have become worse for me in terms of the injury and in terms of certain parameters in rehab as well."

"However, I, along with my team, are working on it. We are working on rehab, the physios are doing a good job. I am focusing on strengthening exercises and doing everything I can to recover faster," she added.

Palak Kohli aims for gold in Paris

Putting the Tokyo Paralympics disappointment behind her, the young shuttler now wants to focus on what's next. She is determined to win the gold medal at the Paris Paralympics in 2024.

"We have the Asian Championships, the Asian Games and the World Championships this year. I am looking to do well in those. Looking ahead for Paris 2024, I would want to win the gold medal," she asserted.

Palak Kohli is elated on training at India's first professional para-badminton academy in Lucknow. It is setup by noted coach Gaurav Khanna, who is also the current Indian para-badminton coach.

"We now have our own professional para-badminton setup. We have the first professional para-badminton academy in Lucknow. We are always treated as first citizens and session timings and facilities like steam, sauna, bath, jacuzzi, etc are available to us on priority as well. I train around nine hours a day, apart from working on my recovery and mental conditioning aspects as well," she said.

Palak hopes her association with Adidas will help her realize her dreams of bringing laurels to the country. She hopes she can be an inspiration to many others.