Diwaniyah: Iraqi table tennis player Nur al-Huda Sarmad adjusts her wheelchair before striking the ball into play, braving sweltering heat, social stigma, and inadequate facilities as she dreams of taking her team to the Paralympics. Sarmad and seven other Iraqi women with disabilities train three times a week at a community center in the southern city of Diwaniyah, preparing for an upcoming tournament that could qualify them for the national Paralympic team.
According to France24.com, the facilities at the community center are far from Olympic-standard, with an air conditioner that remains off-limits due to chronic power cuts, especially in summer when temperatures approach 50C. The center is powered by a generator that can barely sustain the essentials. “These practical issues affect our training” and hinder the players’ progress, Sarmad noted.
The team also faces challenges due to insufficient government funding for sports and conservative views on women’s rights and people with disabilities. Paralympic champion Najlah Imad, the first Iraqi to win a gold medal in table tennis, emphasized that “despite the difficult circumstances, nothing is impossible.” Imad, who now relies on sponsorship deals, encouraged her fellow players to persevere, stating, “You can do anything.”
Sarmad, who has already won several medals including a bronze in a tournament in Thailand, takes pride in overcoming these challenges. “We overcame all this, we became players,” she said. The state-owned community center provides the team with a stipend equivalent to $75 a month for transportation costs, but the players had to purchase their professional paddles, costing $200, themselves.
Transportation remains a significant issue as the players often rely on taxis to attend training sessions, but “sometimes cabs refuse to take disabled people,” Sarmad shared. Coach Mohammed Riyad, 43, emphasized that table tennis in Diwaniyah has developed solely through personal efforts due to a lack of state support. Riyad, a member of the Iraqi Paralympic Committee, has managed to secure old equipment for the players through the committee.
He criticized the state’s focus on football, despite the achievements of table tennis players like Imad, who brought home a Paralympic gold from the 2024 Paris Games. Iraq has a long tradition of women’s sports, with teams participating in regional football, weightlifting, and boxing tournaments. However, there is also vocal opposition seeking to exclude women and bar mixed-gender events.
In southern Iraq, where Sarmad’s team is based, a marathon last year was made a men-only event after a social media controversy over women’s participation in sports. Iraqis living with disabilities face additional challenges, often due to a lack of awareness about their rights and inclusion. For award-winning table tennis player Iman Hamza, 24, society mistakenly views women with disabilities like her “as helpless people who cannot do anything.” However, she asserts, “But we became world champions.”