Soon after the Indian shuttler PV Sindhu clinched gold at BWF World Championship 2019 and became first Indian to win the coveted tournament, Para badminton player, Manasi Joshi has also brought home her first gold at the Para World Badminton Championship.
The 30-year old defeated three-time SL3* world champion Parul Parmar with a score of 21-12, 21-7, although she opened slow with 2-7. SL3 is a para-badminton category in which players are impaired in one or both lower limbs and have poor walking or running balance.
Speaking to the Paralympic Committee of India, Manasi said, "I have trained extremely hard, training three sessions a day. The focus was on my fitness, so I also lost some weight and gained more muscle. I spent more time in the gym, working six sessions a week."
Manasi lost her left leg in an accident in 2011. She taught herself to walk with a prosthetic limb for around four months in 2012. She then participated in an inter-company badminton championship where she had previously won gold.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju expressed his happiness over Indian players performance at World #ParaBadminton Championship
Indian para-athletes finished with 12 medals, including three golds at the BWF World Championships, as the team fell just one gold medal short of their best-ever show at the tournament in 2015 when it had the same medal count but four golds.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tweeted congratulations to the Indian para badminton team that won 12 medals at the BWF World Championship.