Manasi Girishchandra 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 after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the 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 fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

and she was raised in Anushaktinagar, Mumbai. She graduated in Electronics Engineering from

K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering (KJSCE) was established in 1983 as a college affiliated to the University of Mumbai. The college received autonomous status in 2014 and since 2019 the college is affiliated to Somaiya Vidyavihar University ...

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

, 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 ...

. 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 (), is a planned community, planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, ...

. During 2012-2013 after her accident, Manasi started practicing yoga, meditation and badminton to regain her fitness. She played badminton as part of her rehabilitation and another para-badminton player urged her to try out for the national team.

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 Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

2014 and played her first international tournament in Spain. In 2018, she asked

Pullela Gopichand Pullela Gopichand (born 16 November 1973) is a former Indian 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 Ind ...

to coach her, and enrolled in his badminton academy at

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. 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 (4.9 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civi ...

, 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 , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

, 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 ) , Host city = Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China , Nations participating = , Athletes participating = 4,000 (Expected) , Events = 616 in 22 sports (in 24 disciplines) , Opening ceremony = 22 October 2023 , Closing cere ...

at Gangzhou, China.

Awards and recognition

Manasi was listed as the Next Generation Leader 2020 by

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

in October 2020 and she appeared on their

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

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 manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiratio ...

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 #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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 Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (born 5 July 1995) is an Indian badminton player. Considered one of India's most successful sportspersons, Sindhu has won medals at various tournaments such as the Olympics and on the BWF circuit, including a gold at th ...

Mary Kom Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom (born 01 March 1983) is an Indian amateur boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, the only female boxer to ha ...

Vinesh Phogat Vinesh Phogat (born 25 August 1994) is an Indian wrestler. She became the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in both Commonwealth and Asian Games. She is the only Indian woman wrestler to win multiple medals at the World Wrestling Champion ...

and

Dutee Chand Dutee Chand (born 3 February 1996) is an Indian professional sprinter and current national champion in the women's 100 metres event. She is the first Indian to win a gold medal in 100m race in a global competition. She is the third Indian woman ...

. * 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 (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

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 owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

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''

References

Notes

{{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