Two young participants, one each in shotput and badminton, will represent Bhutan at the 5th Asian Youth Para Games in Dubai next month. In badminton, 14-year-old Cheyang Kuenchap, a student of Gesarling Central School in Dagana, will compete for the country. Born with lower-limb impairments and using a wheelchair, Cheyang is determined to make his mark on the international stage. In this story, we look at his training regimen and preparations for the upcoming competition.
A Class IV student from Trashigang, Cheyang Kuenchap is training rigorously at Gesarling Central School. Since the beginning of this month, he has been practising for around 4 hours every morning and evening, except Sundays, now totalling nearly 17 days of continuous training.
Despite his young age, Cheyang has already competed internationally, at the Japan Para Badminton International 2024 and the Thailand Para Badminton International 2025.
For the upcoming event, he is preparing to compete in the WH2 classification, a wheelchair category for players with strong upper-body and trunk control. He will undergo formal reclassification during the Games.
Cheyang Kuenchap said, “It has been almost two years since I joined Gesarling Central School from Draktsho. In these two years, I trained well, and my coach came from Thimphu to guide me. I worked hard, and I am grateful for this opportunity despite being a person with disability. I want to thank my coach, teachers, principal, the Bhutan Olympic Committee, and the Bhutan Paralympic Committee for supporting me.”
Cheyang trains under Coach Dorji, who also provides gym sessions twice a week to build his arm, core, and shoulder strength.
Coach Dorji came across Cheyang after seeing a video of him on social media, dancing at the Draktsho Vocational Training Centre in Kanglung.
He said, “I first saw him dancing on Facebook and immediately felt he had potential. I consulted the federation and the Bhutan Paralympic Committee about giving him an opportunity in para-badminton. They agreed and encouraged me to discuss it with him and his parents. With full support from the school and his family, I brought him to Thimphu to begin his training.”
To ensure Cheyang’s education continues alongside training, the federation arranged his transfer to Gesarling Central School under an existing MoU. This has allowed him to access both schooling and structured badminton coaching.
Cheyang and his coach will leave for Dubai in a couple of weeks. The Games, which will be held from 7th to 14th December, will feature more than 1,500 athletes, aged 14 to 20, from over 45 countries.
Bhutan’s participation marks an important step in developing para-sport in the country and is expected to inspire more young people with disabilities to pursue athletics and competitive sports.
Karma Wangdi
Edited by Kipchu
