Tennis: Deaf World Champion Prithvi Sekhar receives Sportsman of the Year award

Deaf by birth, tennis player Prithvi Sekhar is focussing on delivering his best for his forthcoming pursuits and has said that he will do everything possible to make India proud. Prithvi was on Thursday felicitated with the International Sportsman of the Year award by the Italy-based International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD). 

The 26-year-old sounded delighted after being honoured with the award, “I feel very proud to have received this award at an international level. It is a great moment for me and my country.” The sportsman/sportswoman of the year award is meant to annually honour deaf athletes who produce outstanding results in his/her sporting discipline throughout the current year and to recognise their exemplary sporting achievements.  

Prithvi was recently crowned the men’s singles champion at the World Deaf Tennis Championships in Antalya, Turkey. Not only has he transcended the world of sports for the disabled, even while helping the movement reach unprecedented heights, Prithvi is one of a rare handful of athletes to transcend the world of sport. In 2017, Prithvi paired with Jafreen Shaikh of Hyderabad to win the first-ever medal for India in tennis at Deaflympics. This was perhaps the turning point for him, a significant period from which he milked self-confidence and intrinsic knowledge of his own abilities and qualities.

But Prithvi doesn’t wish to get carried away by the early success that has befallen on his career, and he is not somebody to settle for less. “My next goal is to get into top 500 at the international ATP ranking and get into the top 10 AITA rankings. I am working very hard on training and fitness and playing more high-level competitive tennis,” said a visibly enthusiastic Prithvi, who has completed his MBA from SRM University and is currently employed in Integral Coach Factory (ICF) with the help of sports quota. 

Also read: Deaf tennis World Champion Prithvi Sekhar doesn’t let his impairment define him

With players like Prithvi crushing the glass ceiling in Indian sports, it is perhaps time to throw the hat in the ring. He marks the epitome of a new challenge, ushering in a new dawn for Indian sports and leaving behind a legacy.