Taoyuan Asia Pacific Deaf Games: Eighteen-year-old Patiala resident wins bronze medal with Hyderabad girl
From starting the sport in Patiala to shifting base to Chandigarh for some years to training in Bengaluru, 18-year-old Patiala resident Parul Gupta, a hearing-impaired, has done everything for the love of tennis.
And last week brought Gupta’s biggest achievement of her life as she partnered with Hyderabad’s Jafreen Shaik to end the challenge of the Japanese duo of Toyota Keiko and Murayam Narumi 6-4, 6-2 to claim the bronze medal in the Asia Pacific Deaf Games held at Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Parul, whose father Avinash Gupta is based in Patiala, was playing in her second international tournament of the year.
“It’s a big achievement for our daughter. Before going to Taiwan, she had told us that she wants to win a medal in the games. She is happy that she has achieved the feat. The Japanese pair of Keiko and Narumi were also playing well in the tournament but Parul and Jafreen gave their best. This medal will boost her confidence a lot,” said Avinash, who is a biochemist in Punjab State Power Corporation Limited in Patiala.
As Avinash speaks, Parul, who is doing BA second year through correspondence, is quick to add, “I won 6-4, 6-2.”
Born hearing-impaired, Parul started playing tennis at the age of four at the Yadavindra Public School, where her mother Madhu Gupta is a teacher. The youngster would initially play in the general category and claimed the silver medal in the U-17 National School Games held in Delhi in 2011.
Parul followed the medal with a gold-medal winning performance in the nationals for deaf held at Aurangabad in 2013. She then played in 2013 Deaf Olympics and later also bagged a silver medal in the doubles category in the Youth Tennis Cup held in Hamburg, Germany in 2014.
Earlier this year, the talented player also played in the World Deaf Championships in Nottingham where she reached the quarter-finals.
Apart from Rs 2 lakh given by Punjab minister Bikramjeet Singh Majithia in 2013, Parul has got no support from the government or any other organisation.
“Initially she would hesitate to play. But then she picked up the sport well under coach Sanjeev Kumar and would practise at YPS School. Later, she would reside with her maternal uncle Sanjeev Jindal and trained under coach Gurinder Singh Sahota. She also trained under coach Anirudh at Bengaluru. Staying away from the family has been tough for her. But she loves playing. In the world championships, she lost narrowly in the quarters. But wins in Germany and playing in the Deaf Olympics in Bulgaria in 2013 helped her game a lot,” said Avinash.
Parul’s previous coach Gurvarinder Singh Sahota is all praise for the youngster.
“Parul is very talented and she is a quick learner of the game. She plays well in pressure too and this performance
proves that. Her strength is that she is technically very strong,” said Sahota, who is a coach at the Tennis Excellence Academy, Kharar.
