Alfiyah was a rising star on the basketball court until she fell from the fourth floor of a building. This left her paralyzed from the waist down and dimmed her prospects of becoming a professional athlete. Despite her debilitating fall, Alfiyah was not ready to give up on her. Her fortitude and her will to overcome her adversity led her to success.
Currently, Alfiyah James is a professional para-badminton player and national champion. She has represented India in many national and international competitions. She participated in six international tournaments and won seven medals. She is ranked 12th in world para-badminton. She ranks 5th in Asia and 1st in India. However, all these achievements did not come easy for her.
Alfiyah's family was small and close-knit. Tragedy occurred when she lost her father at an early age. The burden of her family fell on her mother. Alfiya was able to stay in a hostel. Here she experienced a fateful fall. After months of treatment, her doctors told her she would never walk again.
“Everything seemed to fall apart. There was nothing I could do. My life had reached a point of despair. But I had to keep living, I had to keep trying. So, when I enrolled in a degree course at Jain University, my mother was hesitant to send me to a hostel at first, but while I was studying at Jyoti. I also participated in various online competitions. I started participating in powerlifting competitions and progressed step by step,” she said.
Alfiyah said she joined a gym and started watching the Olympics. She started with competitive powerlifting. She won a silver medal at the National Para Powerlifting Championships. So she decided to try badminton. During this time she completed her degree. Elite Her group offered her sponsorship and extended her job offer.
After this, there was no looking back for Alfiyah. In the first competition, he won a double gold medal. She started representing India and won her national title twice. Currently, she is ranked 12th in the world.
Alfiyah is grateful to her mother for her constant support. “I've considered stopping at many points in my life. But it's my ingrained sportsmanship that keeps me going,” she said. Alfiya is currently preparing for the 2026 Asian Games. He also plans to participate in major international tournaments this year. Now, she is hardly perturbed by the fact that during her constant journey to various match venues, she met with a terrible accident and was unable to move.