Jerlin Anika wins a Gold medal in Deaflympics 2022 held at Caxias du sol, Brazil. She played mixed team badminton and defeated Japan to gain an incredible victory for India. Anika achieved the debut gold medal for India in Deaflympics 2022.
Jerlin Anika is an 18-year-old deaf badminton player from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. She emerged victorious in singles Badminton as well as, in doubles Badminton, with a score of 3-1. It wasn’t her first time representing India. She previously played for the country in Deaflympics 2017. Anika was the youngest player participant ever in Deaflympics 2017, held in Samsun, Turkey. Jerlin’s picture was all over the place with her older contenders, and she was the face of the tournament.
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Jerlin was coached by T Saravanan. She was introduced to the game by her father Jayaratchagan when, she was only eight years old. She immediately took a liking for the sports and started acing it. Jayaratchagan said to TOI, “She took a liking to the sport and became good at it. As a father, I just did my duty and continued supporting her.”
Anika faced several complications due to her deafness. Without being able to hear the game became quite challenging in competitive environments. Hearing allows the player to identify whether the coming shuttle is a smash or a drop. Anika faced this issue but still overcame it quite gracefully. Jerlin’s coach Saravanan said, “But she worked hard and used it to her advantage as she cannot be distracted by other noise. Normal players can judge whether the return is a smash or a drop from the sound shuttle makes when it hits the racket. It is a few microseconds, but it makes a huge difference.”
Dodging every obstacle, Jerlin Anika has become the National champion amongst hearing impaired women players and the pride of India. Jerlin became the National champion in the youth badminton category and won plenty of championship titles across the world.
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