This Chennai tennis player scripts history in Deaflympics

05.08.2017
India won one gold and two bronze in wrestling, silver in golf, and another bronze in tennis in the recently concluded Deaflympics. That's something all of us can be proud of. Now, what makes it even more special for Chennaiites is the fact that Prithvi Sekhar, a 23-year-old from Chennai, scripted history by winning bronze with Jafreen Shaik of Hyderabad in the mixed doubles tennis. "And that's India's first-ever medal in tennis at Deaflympics," says a visibly excited Prithvi as he celebrates the achievement by cutting a cake with his fellow players at his training academy within the Anna University campus.

Though it's quite unfortunate that no one turned up to receive the athletes at the Delhi airport, Prithvi says that's been compensated by the kind of reception he received at the Chennai airport. "I was all excited about seeing my parents after two months as I was away for training in Delhi and then for Deaflympics in Turkey. But apart from them, there were at least fifty others who came to receive us after knowing about the let down at Delhi airport, through social media. That was quite overwhelming. But sadly, none from the government has called up yet to congratulate me. "

Prithvi has been playing tennis for the last fifteen years. This was the second time he took part in international outing. I didn't win, but I kept myself motivated. In 2015, I went to the UK for the World Deaf Tennis Championship. After that, I put all my focus on 2017 Deaflympics and worked really hard. I am happy that all my efforts and sacrifices have paid off with me winning a medal at the Deaflympics," he says.

Though deaf by birth and having to completely depend on a hearing aid, he says he loves playing against regular tennis players. "All of them whom I practise with are regular tennis players. I guess practising with them helps me sharpen my skills. I don't find myself at any disadvantage playing against regular players just because I am deaf. I train a lot with International Tennis Federation players. I also play All India Tennis Association (AITA) matches. My best AITA rankings so far in singles has been 45 and in doubles 42. And my world rankings among the deaf players in singles is 10 and doubles is 8," says Prithvi proudly. So, what next? "I am going to Bangalore on August 21 to play an AITA tournament."

Ask him who's his favourite tennis player and pat comes the reply — " Federer and Djokovic". So, who will he root for when they play against each other. "It has to be Federer. He's a legend."

Prithvi is also a post-graduate student. "After completing BTech, I also completed MBA from SRM University," says Prithvi and adds, "I speak English, Tamil and German. Though the hearing aid is helpful, I do a lot of lip reading. And it works well for me. I also know the sign language, because some of these players who come for deaf tournaments only use that."