THE REIGNING Champion AND A Changemaker
Manasi Girishchandra Joshi is a para-badminton player from India. She is the reigning champion and a changemaker. She began her professional athletic career in 2015 and was rated world number two in women’s singles in the SL3 category in 2020.
Manasi was named TIME Magazine’s Next Generation Leader 2020 in October 2020, and she appeared on the magazine’s Asia cover, making her the first para-athlete in the world and the first Indian athlete to be featured on the magazine’s cover for being an advocate of rights for persons with disabilities.
Barbie honoured Manasi and her accomplishments on the International Day of the Girl Child (11 October 2020) by creating a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll in her likeness to encourage young girls. Additionally, she was named by the BBC as one of the world’s 100 most inspirational and influential women in 2020 and she was featured in the Self-made women of 2020 list by Forbes India.
Manasi was born in Rajkot, Gujarat, and reared in Mumbai’s Anushaktinagar neighbourhood. In 2010, she earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering from the K. J. Somaiya College of
