Mumbai: Borivli’s blind judo champ heads to Egypt for IBSA Grand Prix 2025

Darshan Arun Kamble a 100 per cent blind para judo athlete or judoka as judo players are called is all set to represent India at the IBSA Judo Grand Prix to be held in Giza Egypt from August 14 to 20 Kamble who is a Borivli East local just finished a training camp at Lucknow and will now fly to the land called lsquoThe Gift of the Nilersquo for the tournamentSweat lsquonrsquo struggleKamble 29 said ldquoWhile I am excited and hope to prove my mettle internationally so much of my energy has been spent on raising funds to compete I paid the initial deposit amount of Rs 50000 I still had to raise at least Rs 200000 which included flights visa accommodation and other travelrelated expenses I raised this through wellwishers and a number of NonGovernment Organisations NGODarshan Kamble does a leg workoutKamble who lives in Kajupada explained about his challenging financial circumstances ldquoMy mother is a housewife my father works as a tempo loader my younger brother works in the back office of a private company my sister is marriedrdquo Kamble appears for examinations for a job in Banking or the RailwaysKamble who was born with 25 per cent vision had 10 per cent vision in one eye till 2020 but lost his vision completely during the COVID19 wave in 2021 ldquoI lost my vision but not my spiritrdquo said the Ruia College Matunga Bachelor of Arts BA graduateHe had done his schooling at the Happy Home School for the Blind in Worli He said ldquoI was always sports oriented playing cricket and a game called goalball Yet I truly fell in love with judo in school I won my first judo medal at the Mumbai level in 2016 I won a silver medal for Maharashtra at the National Blind Judo Championship in 2017rdquo Post that Kamble won several silvers and a gold in 2025 at the National Para Judo ChampionshipsDarshan Kamble works outTravel lsquonrsquo trainingHe travelled thrice a week from Borivli to DadarMatunga and trained for several hours at the Podar Judo Club in Podar College Matunga under the legendary coach and official Ravindra Patil ldquoWhen Darshan Kamble entered judo class I was first struck by his commitment He has lasersharp focus and is formidable in randori or free practice sparring He is also blessed with immense physical strength Now it is about applying what he does in class in competition He has already proved himself at the national level His mental strength must match his physical as he competes internationally I am quite certain he will do well in Giza Egyptrdquo said the coachStrong supportDarshan Kamblersquos struggle has not been confined to the mat though He has had angels on his journey in the form of wellwishers and supporters Live to Give founder Marzy Farokh Parakh of Mumbai said ldquoKamblersquos case was referred to us by Tanya Balsara who runs a renowned computer centre for visually impaired individuals We are a WhatsAppbased community of hundreds of citizens who unite to verify and support genuinely needy individuals all through WhatsAppThe youth with Neelkanth Mayekar at the formerrsquos home PICSNIMESH DAVEThe case was assigned to volunteer Dimple Aggarwal who successfully raised Rs 226 lakh towards his support through donors and their internal crowdfunding portalrdquo Then there is Neelkanth Mayekar of Green Park Society at Raheja Estate Kulupwadi Borivli who supported Kamble by allowing the gym facility at the housing society to be available for his training Said Mayekar ldquoThere are so many like Dr Rajesh Mayekar and doctor colleagues who have conducted health checks for Kamble Dr Mayekar has personally monitored Kamblersquos overall conditioning fitness and diet There has been financial help from several members of the Green Park housing societyrdquoWhat Kamble and those rooting for him ask for is ldquostructured help by the state or Central governmentrdquo Mayekar put the faith in Kamble as he said ldquoI truly believe that with or without onersquos help he will still succeed in his dreams as destined but with help given it becomes a slightly easier journey for him and other such playersrdquoLooking at this holistically Mayekar said ldquoWhen others see that help is being given upcoming potential para champions will also gain confidence in our system to choose sports as a career path helping them to be selfreliantrdquo Supporters together claim that with selfreliance comes a life lived with dignity ldquoWe are hoping the government walks the talk on diversity and propels them forward and with that India to glory After all these are the living breathing symbols reminding us there is an able in disabledrdquoTo help Darshan Kamble on his judo journey call 9619709697