Feisty special girl in High court for ticket to international meet

28.04.2017

PATIALA: City-based Parul Gupta, a deaf-mute tennis player who has won top honours at international competitions, has moved Punjab and Haryana high court against the decision of the All India Sports Council for the Deaf (AISCD) to not nominate her for the Deaflympics, which is to be held from July 18 to 30 in Samsun, Turkey .

The reason cited by AISCD is that they are not allowed to take along with them more than two players each in the men's and women's category .

The AICSD co-chairman told Parul's father that the council does not have any influence on the decision of the National Deaf Sports Federations while making it clear that each country can take along a maximum of four players besides two extra players in each category.

Avinash Gupta, Parul's father, said, "We were ready to go at our own expense to as we've competed there earlieras well. It's shameful that the government is trying to kill the morale of players with hearing impairment instead of encouraging them...I have moved high court to get justice."

Parul, aged 20 now, earned her first plaudits when she was just 14 by clinching the silver at the Patiala district school games in August 2010.

Clearing all her five matches at the 21st national deaf games held in Chennai from March 28 to 31, Parul became one among the four girls who were selected for `Olympic Games for Deaf ' in Turkey before she was told she could not go.

Meanwhile, when contacted, AISCD sports director G Suresh Kumar said the council is the only apex sports body for deaf people in India and it is affiliated to the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD), Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Asia Pacific Deaf Sports Federation in Malaysia.

He said that the size of the contingent must satisfy the conditions prescribed by ICSD and nobody is authorised to break it. "We have clear guidelines from ICSD and we have submitted the list of the campers to MYAS and SAI and are waiting for approval."

Parul had won gold at the Slovenia Deaf Tennis Open 2016 in the `Women-Doubles' held at Protroz and also put in winning performances at the 2nd Open Deaf Youth Cup in 2014 in Hamburg, Germany . Closer home, she won the silver at the 57th National School Games Lawn Tennis (Girls U-17) held in Delhi in 2012 and also bagged medals and prizes at other contests.