Prathima Rao and Shilpa Puttaraju, both from Karnataka, are no ordinary sportsperson. The wheelchair tennis players, who have overcome their disabilities to excel at the rigorous game, are set to represent India at three major international tournaments coming up later this year. Both will play in the singles format, as well as pair up alongside each other for the doubles.
Rao and Puttaraju will represent India across International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments soon, in Taipei (October 17-27), Brazil (October 18-26) and Sri Lanka (November 18-December 1).
But what made the duo, who have played against each other in the past as well, choose a demanding sport like tennis? For Bengaluru-based Rao, it was about proving naysayers wrong. “People have always told me that I am not capable of doing anything due to my disability. I always wanted to prove them wrong,” she says.
Hailing from Mandya, Puttaraju chanced upon tennis by chance. “There wasn’t a specific reason for choosing tennis. I didn’t know much about it initially, but I liked it and continued playing,” she says.
Tennis is a sport of major exertion, and like most physical sports, takes a generous amount of physical toll. Rao began training at home, but now attests gym-work to be mandatory. Puttaraju too commits regularly to the gym, with daily one-hour sessions.
How has the road to recognition been for the duo? So far, bittersweet. While Rao recalls winning the Tabebuia Open in 2017 as a major point of recognition, Puttaraju says, “As far as I know, my talent hasn’t been widely recognised yet.”
India usually has a fairly good record of producing para-athletes of immense talent. At Summer Paralympics 2024, the country won 29 medals, out of which seven were gold.
