City boy clinches gold in para-TT championship

Shubham Wadhwa has clinched a gold medal in the mixed doubles category at the International Table Tennis Federation Fa40 Thailand Para Open Championship held in Pattaya.

Ludhiana

Shubham Wadhwa clinched a gold medal in the mixed doubles category at the International Table Tennis Federation Fa40 Thailand Para Open Championship held in Pattaya. (HT PHOTO)

By winning laurels in para table tennis yet again, city boy Shubham Wadhwa proved that a disability should not become an obstacle on the path of success.

A fighter, on and off the field, Wadhwa has clinched a gold medal in the mixed doubles category at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Fa40 Thailand Para Open Championship 2024, held in Pattaya from July 21 to 24.

A computer science engineering student at Lovely Professional University (LPU), Wadhwa won a final match against Singapore, 3-0. “Nearly 30 countries participated in this championship meant to increase the world ranking points of the players. Almost every international player participated this time as this was the last tournament before the Paralympics, which is scheduled from August 28 to September 8 this year, in Paris,” said Wadhwa.

Informing about his world rankings, Wadhwa remarked, “In singles, I have a world ranking of 54, in mixed doubles, it is 42 and in doubles, my world ranking is 38.”

Wadhwa met with an accident in February 2016 injuring his spinal cord post which he spent around two months on a ventilator. “My life turned upside down when my lower body was paralysed and I was bedridden for more than two years, but with the support of my family I started a new life and then I resumed my studies in 2018,” he said.

“I could not qualify for Paralympics this year but now I am gearing up for another tournament scheduled in October which is going to be held in France, to increase more points as whosoever has more points, is qualified for paralympics and Asian games. I will now start preparing for Asian para games scheduled in 2026. The more tournaments one plays and wins, the more points one gains,” he shared. He added that he has been playing international tournaments for the last one year now and had even tried his luck in bodybuilding and wheelchair modelling.