Himanshi Rathi won medal in Asian Games chess event. Loktej Sports, Regional News

Himanshi Rathi, who won a medal in the chess event of the Para Asian Games, said that sometimes people lose courage due to some problems in life, but if they have the support of their loved ones, success can be achieved. PM Modi had boosted morale and assured them of winning gold.

Himanshi Rathi has brought glory to India and Gujarat by winning the bronze medal in the chess event of the Para Asian Games held in China. Himanshi now wants to become an IAS officer by cracking the UPSC exam. She is moving forward with this goal. PM Modi boosted enthusiasm. Disabled Himanshi Rathi said that the target was gold but I was able to win bronze. My family and coach had good support in this success of mine. PM Modi had met the medal winning players of the Para Asian Games. Himanshi said, PM had asked how satisfied I was on winning bronze, then I had said that the target was gold. PM boosted the morale and assured them of winning gold. Himanshi said, sometimes people lose courage due to some problems in life, but success can be achieved with the support of loved ones. If the government also continues to help the players, we will be able to win more medals than this time.

Parents did not accept defeat

Himanshi Rathi was born on 30 October 1999 in Palanpur of Banaskantha district. Father Bhavesh Rathi is a businessman and mother Deepali Rathi is a housewife. When Himanshi was born, the parents did not know at all that their daughter had a vision defect, but when she turned two and a half years old, the parents came to know about it. After this, after undergoing treatment at many places, it was finally revealed that Himanshi would gradually lose her vision and become completely blind. Despite this, without getting discouraged, the parents decided to move forward with a definite goal in their daughter’s life.

Study with normal children till class 4th

At first, the parents sent Himanshi to study in school along with normal children. While she studied with normal children till the fourth standard, this could not happen for long and Himanshi had to go to the Blind Girls School in Ahmedabad for further studies. Where the biggest challenge for him was that he had studied like a normal child till class four and suddenly had to learn Braille script in class five.

Himanshi learned Braille script in one and a half month

Himanshi’s courage and the hard work of her parents paid off and in just one and a half months, Himanshi learned Braille script. After this, she always remained first in studies. Himanshi’s rank in Andhajan category was very good in 10th and 12th board exams. After that, he graduated with a gold medal in BA Literature from Gujarat University. Himanshi has cracked GPSC, now Himanshi is preparing for UPSC through SPIPA.

Interest in chess led to success

Generally, children in blind schools are more attracted towards music, but Himanshi developed interest in chess and started taking training for chess. She started taking part in one competition after another and success continued to kiss Himanshi’s feet. Himanshi has won the title of champion five times at the state level and four times the title of champion at the national level in the Khel Mahakumbh. Now he has brought pride to the country by winning the bronze medal in the Para Asian Games.

Could not win medal in 2018

It is not that this year Himanshi reached the Para Asian Games for the first time. Earlier, Himanshi had also participated in the Para Asian Games held in Indonesia in 2018. However, at that time she could not win the medal and stood fourth. After that, in the year 2022, Himanshi participated in the World Women’s Chess Championship held in France and was ranked 14th. Himanshi participated in the National Women Chess Championship held in Chandigarh in the year 2023. Players were to be selected from this event for the Para Asian Games held in China. Himanshi secured first place in her category in the competition and once again opened the doors to going to the Asian Games.