With badminton being recognised as a Paralympic sport for the first time after getting an official entry at the Tokyo Paralympics to be held later this year, a dedicated academy for para shuttlers, a first in India, couldn’t have come at a better time.

Soon after being conferred with the Dronacharya award last year, the Indian head coach for para-badminton, Gaurav Khanna invested his prize money of Rs 10 lakh in building the academy that provided top priority to para and wheelchair shuttlers.