Himanshi Bhavesh Rathi, a 24 year old visually impaired youth, did the country proud when she won two bronze medals at the recently concluded 4th Asian Para Games that were held at Hangzhou in China. Himanshi is an alumnus of Vidyamandir, Palanpur.
 

The young athlete won the bronze medals in the women’s para chess event at the Games. She received messages of congratulations from the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Sports, Shri Anurag Thakur. The PM praised her “stellar performance in Chess Women's Individual Standard VI-B1 RND7 at the Asian Para Games” and acknowledged that her “dedication and strategic prowess have earned her a well-deserved Bronze Medal.” 
 

“May she continue to scale more success in the times to comes," the message from the PM concluded.
 

Himanshi joined Vidyamandir in 2011 securing admission in Std 7 and passed out from the institution in 2017 with a 99.57 percentile rank. She subsequently completed her BA and MA in English Literature from Ahmedabad, winning a Gold Medal for securing the highest marks in her BA exam.
 

Prior to her commendable performance in the Para Asian Games, Himanshi has won over 20 medals in different chess competitions, including being the National Champion three times – 2019, 2020 and 2022. Himanshi started playing chess when in Std 10, as she found it helped her to improve her focus and concentration, according to a report in the Times of India.