Chandigarh: For nearly three years, Shubham Wadhwa lay bedridden, uncertain of what life held for him after a bike accident changed everything. Today, the Ludhiana-born para table tennis player has two Asian Para Games bronze medals to his name, along with a promise to his mother that he has fulfilled.Making his debut at the Asian Para Games 2026 in Japan, Wadhwa won bronze in men’s doubles with Jehan Dorab Madan in the MD4 category and in mixed doubles with Bhavina Patel in the XD7 category. Both podium finishes created history for India, marking the country’s first-ever medals in men’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Asian Para Games.“Before coming to Japan, I had told my mom that I will give my best and make my dream come true,” Wadhwa told TOI. “I had to fulfil this promise, and so I did. This is for my mother.” It is the family support he says because of which he could make a comeback at life.For his family, the medals mark the end of a difficult chapter that began in 2016, when a bike accident left Wadhwa with a spinal cord injury, paralysed below the chest. A national-level table tennis player during his school days, he had stepped away from the sport to pursue modelling. The accident forced him to rebuild his life from scratch.“When I was lying bedridden, I had no idea life was going to turn out this way,” he told TOI.For three years, even the simplest daily activities required assistance. His mother, Poonam Wadhwa, stood by him through the long period of treatment and recovery. “My husband and son both used to go for work. I used to be there to take care of Shubham when he was bedridden,” she told TOI.Recalling the accident, she said her son had returned home at night when a friend called him to accompany him to the market. Within those 10 minutes, their lives changed forever.“I sometimes sit and think, had he not gone back to the market that day, things would have been so different,” she said. “Those three difficult years, we kept faith in God and did our best for his treatment.”Wadhwa credits his family for helping him find his way back. His friends, too, refused to let him give up on table tennis. They helped him discover a scholarship opportunity at Lovely Professional University, encouraged him to return to the sport and even came home to practise with him for hours during the Covid pandemic.He joined LPU in 2018 to pursue computer science engineering and gradually rebuilt his sporting career, returning to the table around 2019-20.Since then he has won 10 national gold medals and earned international recognition, including a gold and two bronze medals at the ITTF World Para Future in Gold Coast, followed by silver in mixed doubles and bronze in men’s singles at the ITTF World Para Elite in Taipei City.At the Asian Para Games, partnerships built over years also paid off. Wadhwa has played alongside Madan for two to three years and with Patel for about a year and a half. Their combined efforts brought India two historic podium finishes.Poonam broke down in tears when she learnt of her son’s achievement. “Now my son is unstoppable. Table tennis is his whole life. He derives his life’s meaning from it,” she said, thanking those who supported him during his recovery.Wadhwa, however, is already looking ahead. He is the only Indian athlete in the men’s category to have qualified for the ITTF World Para Table Tennis Championships in Thailand.“When I come back to India, I won’t be able to go home. First, I’ll report for practice and then leave for the World Championships within 10 days,” he said.
