chennai as prithvi sekhar relives his bronze medal win in the mixed doubles event at the recently concluded deaflympics its difficult to decipher the extent of his troubles for the 23yearold himself doesnt feel he is burdened in any capacity due to his hearing impairment from the time i was born i have had this impairment but it hasnt affected me i wear a hearing aid at all times and am able to function just like any other person prithvi who has completed his mba in marketing and operation told toihowever prithvis coach offers an insightful observation to help us understand the degree of difficulty involved for the chennai lad who has been playing tennis since the age of 8 its a little difficult for prithvi when we play we are able to figure out how well the ball has contacted the racquet he doesnt have that luxury it does make a big difference said balaji ramaswamy who has been coaching prithvi for the last 10 yearsdespite prithvis disability balaji was initially reluctant about him participating in the deaflympics as he felt his protg was good enough to compete against players with no disability but the bronze medal that prithvi won alongside hyderabads shaik jafreen has completely vindicated his participationim very proud of him this is his second deaflympics first time around in 2013 i wasnt keen on him going he can compete against players with no disability and i wanted him to focus only on the regular stream he has played all india tennis association aita 50k tournaments and reached semifinals and finals in the end however you have to understand that any win has a huge impact on a players psyche its against disabled players but winning a bronze for the country is going to do his confidence a world of good balaji addedwhile prithvis achievement was no mean feat the poor reception that the deaflympics athletes received at delhi airport upon their return after winning five medals highlighted the sorry state of affairs asked about the whole episode prithvi said it was sad that there was absolutely no one to receive us the all india sports council for deaf and the sports authority of india is going to send a letter to the central government stating our grievances unfortunately thats the situation for deaf athletes there is much more recognition for sportspersons who take part in the olympics and even the paralympics they are way ahead theres little surprise then that prithvi aims to acquire a government job soon in order to secure his future i am looking for a government job the all india sports council for deaf told us that all the medal winners will be getting jobs lets see how it goes if i can get a job it will be good for my future added prithvi