Shaik Jafreen (born 7 September 1997) is a deaf Indian tennis player. She represented India at the

Deaflympics The Deaflympics also known as Deaflympiad (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are a periodic series of multi-sport events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at which Deaf athlet ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. She claimed a bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the

2017 Summer Deaflympics ) , nations = 86 , athletes = 2,873 , events = 219 in 18 sports , stadium = Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadium , opened_by = Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , torch_lighter = Ertuğrul Bursa , opening = July 18, 2017 , closing ...

partnering with Prithvi Sekhar.

Career

Jafreen started playing tennis when she was just eight years old. She went on to become a formidable tennis player despite being deaf, after being noticed by India's best female tennis player, Sania Mirza, and gaining assistance from her, receiving training at the Sania Mirza Tennis Academy which is located in Hyderabad. She went on to represent India at the

2013 Summer Deaflympics The 2013 Summer Deaflympics ( bg, 2013 летни дефлимпийски игри), officially known as the 22nd Summer Deaflympics ( bg, 22-ра лятна глуха олимпиада), was an international multi-sport event that took place ...

which was also her first Deaflympic appearance. As in the as of Prithvi Sekhar, she did not win a medal in her debut Deaflympic event. She was chosen to compete for

India at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics India competed in the 2017 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Samsun, Turkey. India sent a delegation consisting of 46 participants for the event. This was the 13th time that India participated at the Deaflympics, Summer Deaflympics since mak ...

as India sent a delegation consisting of 46 participants for the multi-sport event, the largest number of athletes sent by India to a single Summer Deaflympics. Jafreen along with Prithvi Sekhar won a historical bronze medal in the mixed doubles at the

, marking India's first ever Deaflympic medal in tennis.

Awards and recognition

Jafreen received the Jury Special Recognition in Sports at the

Sakshi Excellence Awards Sakshi () is an Indian Telugu-language media group. The group owns the daily newspaper '' Sakshi'', 24-hour news channel Sakshi TV, and associated digital ventures. Its first asset, ''Sakshi'' newspaper, was launched on 23 March 2008 by Jagati Pu ...

2017. In 2021, she was honored with the national award for sporting excellence by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, being recognized as the best sportsperson with a disability (hearing impaired). In accordance with its sports policy of offering Group-1 posts to international sportspersons, the Andhra Pradesh government extended a government job offer to Jafreen in November 2023.

References

External links

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Shaik Jafreen Jafreen
at TennisExplorer

at CoreTennis 1997 births Living people Indian female tennis players Deaf tennis players Indian deaf people Sportswomen from Telangana Racket sportspeople from Hyderabad, India People from Kurnool district Sportswomen from Andhra Pradesh {{India-tennis-bio-stub