Great Stories Journalist Rhea Dadinath in Exclusive Conversation with International Athlete, Sohail Khan.
When Sohail Khan walked into the ring at the Kudo World Cup in Bulgaria this year, he wasn’t thinking about glory. He was thinking about his parents. About where he came from. And about how far he’d pushed himself to stand there.
Sohail didn’t start his journey as a star athlete. In fact, the turning point came after something most students dread — a school suspension.
“It broke something inside me,” he says. “I saw my parents cry. Not because they were angry with me, but because people were questioning their values — like they’d failed as parents. That’s when I knew I had to change.”
That change didn’t happen overnight. But it did happen with one sentence. “My parents told me: ‘We’re starting from zero. You’ve got nothing to lose. Just go for it.’ That line… it’s what I live by.”
A Fight Bigger Than Sport
Kudo isn’t a sport a lot of people in India know well. It’s a mix of striking, grappling, and full-contact combat. It’s intense, physical, and brutal — and it became the thing Sohail gave everything to.
He trained with whatever resources he could find. No fancy gym. No major sponsorships. Just hunger and hard work.
“There were days I skipped meals to save for auto fare,” he says. “People celebrate your wins, but they don’t see the struggle that comes before it — the loneliness, the injuries, the uncertainty.”
Representing India at the World Cup wasn’t just a personal dream — it was about proving that athletes from smaller towns, from middle-class families, from non-traditional backgrounds, deserve to be on global stages.
“When I wear that flag, it’s not just cloth,” he says. “It’s my responsibility. France, Lithuania — they may have better training support. But we have something else. We have fight.”
Mindset Over Muscle
Sohail’s training isn’t just physical. His biggest strength? His mindset.
“If I enter a fight, I believe I can win. People call it overconfidence — I call it faith. If I don’t believe I’m made for greatness, who else will?”
He credits martial arts for shaping who he is — not just as an athlete, but as a person.
“It taught me patience. Humility. It taught me how to handle anger. And honestly, it taught me that no matter what you do, if you’re not a good human being, nothing else matters.”
“If I Can, So Can You.”
Today, Sohail works as an income tax inspector in Mumbai through the sports quota. But his real mission is to inspire others — especially young people from small towns who feel like the odds are stacked against them.
“Dreaming big isn’t a luxury — it’s your right,” he says. “You don’t need validation. You just need to keep moving — one step at a time. One day at a time.”
From being suspended in school to standing on a World Cup podium — Sohail’s story is proof that a rough start doesn’t define the finish.
And if there’s one thing he wants every young person reading this to know, it’s this:
“If I can do it, so can you.”