‘Lost the Semis as I Wasn’t Able to Hear My Coach’: Kapil Parmar Revelas After Winning

Kapil Parmar became India’s first Paralympic medallist in judo with a bronze in the men’s 60kg (J1) category on Thursday. The 24-year-old defeated Brazil’s Elielton de Oliveira 10-0 in the play-off, dominating his opponent throughout the contest to make a historic podium finish.

Parmar’s medal was among the least expected from the mega-event. However, it was not entirely a surprise given that he won a silver medal at the Para-Asian Games last year besides being a gold medallist from the 2019 Commonwealth Championships.

After winning the historic bronze, Parmar expressed his delight over winning the bronze for the country. He also revealed why he couldn’t win the semi-final.

“This is the first time we got a medal in blind Judo. My hard work of 12 years paid off…We mainly work on sound techniques. Our coach guides us through their voice, and we act according to that…I lost the semi-finals as there was a lot of cheering from the crowd, and I was not able to hear my coach. It was my mistake…However, we earned a medal for the nation,” Parmar said.

Son of a taxi driver, Parmar’s eyesight deteriorated progressively after he was electrocuted as a nine-year-old while trying to fetch water from a water pump in the fields of his village in Madhya Pradesh. He was discovered in an unconscious state by a fellow villager and was hospitalised in Bhopal. He spent six months in a coma before making a slow and painful recovery.

What remained intact was his love for judo, a sport that he picked up while in school, and with the help of his coaches Bhagwan Das and Manoj, he entered para-sports. However, the limited financial means of his family meant that Parmar had to run a tea stall with one of his four brothers to support himself at one stage of his life.

(With Agency Inputs)