Manasi Joshi (born 11 June 1989) is an Indian

para-badminton Para-badminton is a variant of badminton for athletes with a range of physical disabilities. Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the main governing body for para-badminton starting from June 2011. The sport was governed by Para Badminton World Fed ...

player. She is a former world champion in para badminton women's singles SL3 category. On 8 March 2022, she was ranked world No.1 in women's singles SL3 category.

Early life and background

Manasi was born in

Rajkot Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and she was raised in Anushaktinagar, Mumbai. She graduated in Electronics Engineering from K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering,

University of Mumbai University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

, in 2010. A sports lover, Manasi played football and badminton in her school and college life. Joshi started playing badminton when she was six along with her father, a retired scientist from

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is India's premier nuclear research facility, headquartered in Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by Homi Jehangir Bhabha as the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) in January 1954 ...

. Over the years she represented her school, college and corporate at various tournaments. After finishing graduation in 2010, she worked as a software engineer until December 2011.

Accident

In December 2011, she met with a road accident while riding her motorbike to work, and her leg had to be amputated. After 45 days of hospitalisation, Manasi got discharged from MGM hospital Vashi,

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (; also known as New Bombay, its official name until 1995) is a large city next to Mumbai, located in the Konkan division of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is situated in Thane distr ...

Career

Joshi started her sporting journey in 2015 and in 2020, she was ranked world No.2 in women's singles SL3 category. She was selected for Asian Para-Games 2014 and played her first international tournament in Spain. In 2018, she asked

Pullela Gopichand Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is an Indian former badminton player. Currently, he is the Chief National Coach for the India national badminton team. He won the All England Open Badminton Championships in 2001, becoming the second ...

to coach her, and enrolled in his badminton academy at

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. In September 2015, Joshi won a silver medal in mixed doubles at the Para-Badminton World Championship held in

Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (5 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil ...

, England. In October 2018, she won a bronze medal for India at the Asian Para Games 2018, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. In August 2019, at the Para-Badminton World Championship 2019 in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Switzerland, she won a gold medal. She won a silver medal in the doubles along with Thulasimathi Murugesan and a bronze in the singles SL3 in the

2022 Asian Para Games The 2022 Asian Para Games (), also known as the 4th Asian Para Games and commonly known as the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Para Games, were a multi-sport event that paralleled the 2022 Asian Games which was held for Asian athletes with disa ...

at Gangzhou, China.

Awards and recognition

Manasi was listed as the Next Generation Leader 2020 by

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

in October 2020 and she appeared on their

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

cover, making her the first para-athlete in the world and the first Indian athlete to be featured on the magazine's cover, for being an advocate of rights for people with disabilities. On the occasion of the International Day of Girl Child (11 October 2020),

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

celebrated Manasi and her achievements by modelling a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll to her likeness to inspire young girls. She has also been recognized by

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as one of the 100 most inspirational & powerful women across the world in 2020 and was nominated for the BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year Award of 2020 alongside P. V. Sindhu,

Mary Kom Mangte Chungneijang "Mary" Kom (born 24 November 1982) is an Indian Amateur boxing, Olympic boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Member of Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Champions ...

Vinesh Phogat Vinesh Phogat (; born 25 August 1994) is an Indian politician and former wrestler, who is a current member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Haryana. She won the 2024 assembly election from Julana constituency representing the Indian Nati ...

and

Dutee Chand Dutee Chand (born 3 February 1996) is an Indian professional sprinter and a former national champion in the women's 100 metres event. In 2013, Chand was the first Indian sprinter to reach the final of the 100m event at a global youth athletics c ...

. * 2017 - Maharashtra Rajya Eklavya Khel Krida Puraskar (Highest State honour) * 2019 - National award for Best Sportsperson with Disability (female) * 2019 - Differently abled athlete of the year award at

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

India Awards * 2019 - Times of India Sports award for Best para-athlete of the year * 2019 - Aces 2020 Sportswoman of the Year (Para-sports) Hindu Newspaper (Nominee) * 2019 – BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year * 2020 – TIME Next Generation Leader * 2020 - BBC 100 Women * 2020 –

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

India, Self-made Women of 2020

Achievements

World Championships

''Women's singles'' ''Women’s doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Asian Para Games

''Women's singles''

Asian Championships

''Women's singles''

BWF Para Badminton World Circuit (5 titles, 6 runners-up)

The BWF Para Badminton World Circuit – Grade 2, Level 1, 2 and 3 tournaments has been sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation from 2022. ''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

International tournaments (7 titles, 8 runners-up)

''Women's singles'' ''Women's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joshi, Manasi Girishchandra Living people 1989 births Indian female badminton players Indian female para-badminton players Sportspeople from Rajkot Racket sportspeople from Gujarat Sportswomen from Gujarat Paralympic badminton players for India 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medalists at the 2018 Asian Para Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Para Games Badminton players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Asian Para Games medalists in badminton Asian Para Games silver medalists for India Asian Para Games bronze medalists for India