Spin of Courage: How Table Tennis Helped a Teen Discover Her Strength

It was on a summer afternoon in 2020 when Hananeh Nejati, then 14 years-old, walked into Tehran’s Spin Club, the same club where she first learned how to play table tennis and had trained for the past two years.  

But on this day, Hananeh did something that changed her life. 

For the first time ever, Hananeh removed the prosthetic leg she had lived with ever since she was a child, and trained with teammates with her amputated right leg visible to all. “I felt free,” says Hananeh. “I felt that I was finally being myself.”

Hananeh says prior to that day, she was a shy girl who lacked confidence and didn’t talk to anyone. “Due to my physical condition, I thought I was weak,” says Hananeh. Hananeh was born with a congenital leg defect that required doctors to amputate her right leg just above the knee.

During her early school years, hiding her physical disability and her prosthetic leg was a daily routine. For Hananeh, a good day was just being left alone by her classmates.  “The first day she came to the club, she hid behind her mother,” says Hoori Aghamiri, a table tennis coach and founder of the Spin Club in Iran.

The Spin Club is a nonprofit table tennis club that promotes inclusion and empowerment of women and girls, including refugees and women and girls with disabilities.  As part of its mission to leave no one behind, UNFPA has proudly partnered with the Spin Club and helped fund various programmes designed to promote the rights of the most vulnerable. 

Hananeh’s first visit to the Spin Club was the start of a journey to win back her confidence and self-esteem.  “When I started playing and getting used to this environment, I found my inner strength,” says Hananeh. “It’s true that I’m different, but that doesn’t mean I’m worth less than others.”

It was that boost in her self-confidence that led Hananeh to remove her prosthetic leg in front of her coaches and teammates. Soon after, she decided to take her prosthetics off in school too. “I felt more comfortable. My classmates and teachers felt comfortable too,” says Hananeh. “In the past, I had to cover my prosthetic to hide it. Now, I know how to take it easy. This is who I am.”

Just two years after she started training at the Spin Club, at the young age of 15, Hananeh won the silver medal at the 2021 Para Table Tennis Asia Championships. 

Today, she coaches younger players at the Spin Club and is arguably the best para table tennis player in Iran for her age group. “She was like a diamond in the rough, hidden from view. Now she’s shining for everyone to see,” says Aghamiri, her coach. “Seeing girls like her grow makes me feel that I have fulfilled my life’s purpose.”

Hananeh says she plans to push herself to be the best player she can be and maybe someday compete in the Paralympics, but her priority is to continue to grow, keep having fun, and show others that true freedom is finding your Self.

“In the past, I was scared to come out in the open and show myself. Then I realized maybe there’s someone just like me, and by seeing me she’d realize that being yourself is nothing to be afraid of.”