Wheelchair bound Soorma aims for Paralympic gold

It's not often that a person paralysed by a life-altering accident would describe that tragedy as a "blessing in disguise" or "an opportunity" to carve an identity. But then soon-to-be-Paralympian Pranav Soorma is built different.

He was 16 when the roof of his house fell on him in 2011, leaving him a quadriplegic.

Restricted to a wheelchair, the Faridabad-based para-athlete couldn't have been faulted if he turned bitter with life but to everyone's surprise, he felt the tragedy gave him a sense of purpose.

"I was always a sports enthusiast but never took sports as a career option but I always wanted to do something worthy in my life and the irony is I got it after I got paralysed. I treat it as a blessing in disguise," Soorma, who is also a banker by profession, told PTI in an interview.

Soorma is the reigning Asian Paralympics champion in men's club throw F51 event with an Asian Games record of 30.01m. Little surprise then that he is being seen as a bright medal prospect for India at the upcoming Paris Paralympics, to be held from August 28 to September 8.

"I took up sports as an opportunity to create my own identity," he said.

"After 2016 Rio Paralympics I got to know about para-sports. In 2018, I read a lot about para-sports. I got to know about para swimming but given my medical condition it was not possible, table tennis also I liked but I didn't get a good coach to train me," said the 29-year-old, a commerce graduate from the prestigious Delhi School of Economics.

"Then came Narsi Ram sir (a para-athletics coach) in my life. He introduced me to athletics and finally I took up club throw."

He is currently working as an assistant manager in Bank of Baroda, a job which he got after cracking the competitive exam.

Club throw is an event where the objective is to throw a wooden club as far as possible. It is the para equivalent of the hammer throw in which participants rely on the shoulders and arms to generate the power required for the throw.

The event is one of the four throwing events, along with discus, javelin and shot put of the Summer Paralympics.

Soorma, a dashing six-footer, expressed gratitude towards his family for supporting his and wants to give them back by winning a medal at the Paris Paralympics.

"I got immense support from my family. My father (Sanjeev) left his private job to be my attendant as I couldn't afford a full-time attendant. My mother took the responsibility of running the family with her private job," he said.

However, Soorma doesn't feel any additional performance pressure owing to the tough journey his family has endured.

"I believe there was pressure on me and I was nervous when I made my Asian Paralympic Games debut but I didn't let it reach me.

"I kept my calm, stayed focussed on my technique and the result showed. I would like to follow the same process in Paris," Soorma said.

For him, Paris would be an opportunity to carve a niche for himself.

"It's a great opportunity for me to make my name in the world of sports and make my parents proud who sacrificed a lot."

"I am working very hard to win a medal and confident that I will return with a medal. Having said that I am not thinking about the end result."