India makes history at Deaflympics, wins first ever medal in tennis

23-year-old Prithvi Sekhar from Chennai and Jafreen Shaik of Hyderabad have made history by winning a bronze medal in the mixed doubles tennis at the Deaflympics held recently in Turkey.

Sekhar received a huge welcome at the Chennai airport when he landed after the event. Prithvi has been playing tennis for the last 15 years. This was the second time he took part in Deaflympics.

He also took part in the World Deaf Tennis Championship held in the United Kingdom in 2015.

Sekhar, who is deaf by birth and uses a hearing aid, says he loves playing against regular tennis players. He says he finds himself at no disadvantage playing against regular players.

His world ranking among the deaf players in singles is 10 and doubles is eight. His favourite tennis player is Roger Federer.