Hearing impaired, Mallika is city’s golden girl in chess

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 1

Giving yet another reason for the city to rejoice, Jalandhar’s ‘silent’ girl Mallika Handa has won the 19th National Championship for the Deaf, held from February 21 to 25, at Tirur in Kerala. This is her fourth consecutive title win in a row.

Handa may not have heard the deafening cheers of the spectators witnessing her entry into the history books, but had felt their sense of pride in her achievement when she became the first Indian girl to win a gold medal in the International Deaf and Dumb Chess Championship held from August 8 to 14 at Mongolia in 2015.

However, according to her family, the journey so far has been full of struggle. Mallika Handa, a resident of Green Avenue in Basti Sheikh, won the national championship in Madhya Pradesh in 2013. She was to go to Germany the same year, but the Sports Authority of India did not send her due to some dispute with the international body. Mallika underwent trials at Indore. She won the first place and gained an entry into the international tournament.

Though Mallika is facing 90 per cent hearing disability, she was given a seat in a regular college due to her expertise in chess. “Though she is struggling hard and had to drop a year, she does not consider herself less than an ordinary child and wants to complete her education in the regular stream only,” said the proud mother.

She also urged the state government to honour Mallika on her recent achievement.