Accident to Asia No. 4: Shubham’s fight back through sport

When the wheelchair table tennis national championships begin in Indore this week, 29-year-old Shubham Wadhwa will wheel himself to the table with purpose. A decade ago, a bike accident in 2016 left him with a spinal cord injury and confined to a bed for three years. Today, he is Asia No. 4 and World No. 16 in Class 3 wheelchair table tennis, preparing for the Para Asian Games and chasing an Olympic berth.Wadhwa's journey back to sport has been gradual. A national-level player during his school years in Ludhiana, he stepped away from table tennis to focus on modelling. The accident altered everything. "For three years, I was bedridden. Friends kept reminding me of table tennis. When I finally returned to the table in 2019-20, it gave me a new life," he says. He is now pursuing BTech in computer science at Lovely Professional University on scholarship.The Ludhiana athlete has won 7-8 national gold medals and 13 international medals. His breakthrough moment came earlier this year at ITTF World Para Future Gold Coast 2026 in Australia. Competing in Class 3 singles, Wadhwa defeated Japan 3-2 in the group stage, beat two Australian opponents, overcame Oceania's top Australian paddler 3-1 in the semifinals, and clinched the final 3-0 against Japan. It was his first international singles gold medal.He returned from Gold Coast with gold in singles and bronze medals in mixed doubles and men's doubles — a performance that underlined his leap in the global rankings.Wadhwa trains periodically at the Sports Authority of India centre in Gandhinagar. In Ahmedabad, he shares practice sessions with Bhavina Patel, Arjuna Awardee and World No. 1 in singles. The two also combine in mixed doubles, where they are ranked World No. 10. "It's been one and a half years since we started playing together regularly. I spend three-four days training with her whenever possible," he says.International travel, he admits, is challenging for wheelchair athletes, but he describes it as part of the learning curve. His elder brother accompanies him to overseas tournaments, managing logistics and support. Back home, his parents remain his emotional anchor.Wadhwa has also explored wheelchair modelling, returning briefly to the interest he developed during his university years. But table tennis remains central. This season is packed. The national championships in Indore are followed by a tour of Italy in March. The larger goals are fixed: gold at the Para Asian Games in Japan in Oct, the World Championships in Thailand in Nov, and ultimately, qualification for the Paralympics. "After the accident, I had to start from zero. Table tennis gave me direction again," he says.