Two hearing-impaired chess players from Hubballi and Dharwad participated in the 10th Asia Pacific Deaf Games 2024
held in Malaysia, competing alongside 68 contestants from India.
Ambika Masagi from Dharwad secured silver and bronze medals in various categories. The event also saw participation from
Kishan Hulihalli, who hails from Hubballi. Ambika’s mother Jayashri expressed pride in her daughter’s achievements, noting
that she got a silver medal in the women’s individual blitz category and a bronze medal in the mixed team rapid category.
She said Ajit MP, a trainer and coach in Mysuru, provided free virtual training.
A BE graduate Ambika won silver medal in women’s individual blitz chess, and bronze in mixed team rapid chess events.
Another deaf and dumb boy Kishan Shivappa Hulihalli also participated in the chess events. He is a PUC second year student from Hubballi. He can hear and speak with the help of coclear implant.
Ambika is now preparing for the national deaf chess championship to be held in Mysuru next month while Kishan’s dream is to win medals for the country in international chess events.
Jayashri acknowledged the support received from the All India Sports Federation for Deaf, Karnataka Sports Federation of Deaf, and Sports Authority of India (SAI) for Ambika’s success. Kishan’s father Shivappa Hulihalli, stated that despite Kishan’s substantial efforts in the competition, he was unable to secure a medal. He said talented athletes face difficulties due to insufficient governmental support and called for specialised programmes to assist deaf sportspersons. Kishan said, “My aim is to play for the country and bring the highest medal in chess”.
