Elite Cochrane badminton player Rishav Sharma medalled at the 2024 Japan International Para Badminton Championship and has his eye on some even loftier championships.
The founder of the Rocky View Badminton Academy won a bronze in doubles with American Joshua Huang in the SU-5 division of the Toyko tournament, Oct. 22 to 27, and went toe-to-toe in the singles quarterfinals against one of the topped ranked players in the world.
"It was the pretty competitive in singles," he says. "It was toughest I have played so far, and it was pretty good in doubles, too. We lost a pretty close last match, and it was a good learning experience."
Sharma teamed up Huang for the frist time, and said it was a good fit. They intend to compete together in the future, including the 2025 Pan-Am championship in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In singles, he aspires to represent Canada at the 2028 Paralympics.
This was his third tournament in Japan. Last time, he competed for Canada in the 2022 World Championships when he was ranked 20th in the world. He was unable to compete in any tournaments last year and returned to the scene this year.
A Candian coach was there to recommend ways to improve his play.
"Now I'll work on those things that I feel I was missing during my singles games."
Sharma has had a lifelong passion for the sport he has continued since immigrating to Canada eight years ago. Now a Canadian citizen, the door has been opened to represent Canada in more international tournaments.
"Before that, I was playing for India, so I was technically facing some old friends in the tournament," he chuckles.
Sharma is sharing his passion for the sport with youth through his Rocky View Badminton Academy. He has a hectic schedule--travelling weekly between Cochrane, Airdrie and Carstairs, completing personal training--all while holding down a full-time job with the town.
Every other weekend he flies to Fort. St. John to assist youth in an academy he created in 2019. He started with eight youth and now has nearly 50 students. He didn't want to desert them when he moved to Cochrane.
"Some of the kids started in elementary school, and now they're playing in high school, playing in provincials, winter games and other events."
It's his second season of training youth ages 7 to 16 in Cochrane on Monday nights at the Holy Spirit School.
"We did one in the spring. It went well, so I decided to do it again this fall and we got pretty good response from the from the kids."
There are currently about 30 kids taking classes, 90 per cent of them returning from the first season.
The currently season continues until December, and the next one starts in January, with registration opening in December. The current session runs for 10 weeks, and hopes to expand it to 12 to 14 weeks, depending upon gym availability.
He says with the sport being fresh to most of them, he's been focusing on fundamentals, like footwork, staying active on the court and working a bit on fitness and techniques like smashing and drop shots, and fun matches to build up sportsmanship.
Sharma hopes to create an annual fun tournament to bring the kids together from all three communities.
He finds working with the youth is motivating.
"My goal is to make badminton available for every kid who wants to give it a try. It's fun sport. It's a safe sport and it's pretty tough sport."
It also keeps cost down for local youth to enjoy the sport here, rather than travelling to larger, more expensive clubs in Calgary.
You can learn more about the Rocky View Badminton Academy here.
