The 8-year old football player from Imphal who plays with a single limb

Kunal Shrestha, a Class 4 student from Imphal in Manipur has made the headlines after a video of him playing football with one limb went viral on social media. He belongs to a family that sells popsicles and snacks in their locality. While assisting them, he used to often chance upon ‘nobab’, the Chinese grapefruit, that he used to kick around. This developed a penchant for the sport in him. His parents reported that even as a kid, he had always shown interest in football more than cartoons.

Kunal was born with a single limb, which had, for a long time, been the cause of worry for his parents. But his mother had never wanted him to feel different from the other kids and said that Kunal had himself always been a kid with a high self esteem. She said that he had even learnt to ride a bicycle on his own.

Speaking to ANI, Kunal said, “I love playing football. Initially, I faced problems in balancing, I was scared but now I have gained confidence. My friends support me a lot. I hope I will score a goal soon.”

Kunal went on to say that his inspiration was Ajay Chhetri from Bengaluru FC, who is from the same area as Kunal, which is Kanglatongbi.