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My new jacket and some MAJOR NEWS to share with you all...

Navin323i

Practically Family
Messages
770
Location
Maryland, USA
Greetings Gents!!!

It's been so long since I last posted and for once it has nothing to do with any health issue (for those who don't know me, I was born with heart condition that required 5 major open heart surgeries over the past 41 years, none of which I was expected to survive but I defied the odds with a positive attitude and a whole lot of luck, and I was diagnosed 2 years ago with Parkinson's Disease).

Gents... it's my distinct honor and privilege to inform you all that in a week and a half, I will be making history as I travel to Barcelona, Spain to represent the USA in international table tennis competition as part of the Paralympic program. I will become the first Parkinson's athlete in history to compete at this high level.

A year ago I got back into table tennis (I started playing at the age of 4 thanks to my dad and played off and on over the years winning the occasional recreational tournament or two) and got really good really fast thanks to a hall of fame coach that believed in me and took me under his wing.

Table tennis has saved my life and has improved both my heart and Parkinson's as you'll see in the link below to a short 9 minute film documentary done on me by a professional filmmaker who saw my story online...

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/Features/2015/February/01/The-Bionic-Man-Navin-Kumar

Attached are the pics of my team jacket, and while it doesn't compare much to the awesome vintage leather jackets we all normally see here, the jacket is special to me as it represents the hard work with 6 days a week training with coach, other players and even a robot.

While I hope to win the gold medal, in all honesty, the honor of representing the USA and the honor of representing Parkinson's patients worldwide... that is the "true gold medal" for me.

This will be my first ever visit to Barcelona as well as my first ever visit to Spain period. I am so excited and I will definitely look for a nice leather jacket while I'm there. :D

I play table tennis for my continued survival and I play to inspire people to play table tennis for the great health benefits it offers. I'm so grateful for this once in a lifetime opportunity... thank you all. :)
 

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Messages
10,181
Location
Pasadena, CA
Hey Navin, man, it's been a while! Does this jacket still match your Bimmer?! I remember blue being your color.
Super awesome that you're representing and doing well health wise!
I wish you continued success. Both on and off the sports gig!
 

pawineguy

One Too Many
Messages
1,974
Location
Bucks County, PA
Congratulations and above everything else just enjoy your entire experience and all of the other inspiring people you're going to hang out with.
 

Navin323i

Practically Family
Messages
770
Location
Maryland, USA
Wow!
Go Navin!!!!!
Congratulations and Best of Luck!

Thanks Mike! Hope you've been well, my friend. :)

Hey, thats great news!
Best of luck!

Thank you so much!! :)

Very cool, congrats!

Thanks Dan! :)

Congrats Navin..!!
You've accomplished so much already...but I'll be rooting for you in the upcoming competition. Don't forget 'updates'.
HD

Thanks HD!! So true about the updates... very sorry about that and will be more mindful with my family here going forward. :)

So happy for you. Special jacket.

Thanks Nick!! :)

Way to go and wish you the best! Be sure to keep us in the loop.

Thank you so much and I definitely will, my friend!! :)


Thank you! :)

Hey Navin, man, it's been a while! Does this jacket still match your Bimmer?! I remember blue being your color.
Super awesome that you're representing and doing well health wise!
I wish you continued success. Both on and off the sports gig!

It has been a while, Brother... hope you and your family are all doing well. Haha!! Sadly this jacket doesn't match the Bimmer but I customized my turquoise leather jacket with the Paralympic USA Team patch that I affixed to the chest area so that will match the Bimmer for sure, lol.

Congratulations and above everything else just enjoy your entire experience and all of the other inspiring people you're going to hang out with.

Excellent advice, Sir.... thank you so much!! :)
 

Navin323i

Practically Family
Messages
770
Location
Maryland, USA

Don Tomaso

A-List Customer
Messages
402
Location
Germany
Hi Navin, great attitude and all the best for Barcelona! Will be enough of celebration there after tonight...:)
 

nicholasb

One of the Regulars
Messages
252
Location
South West, UK
Hi Navin,

I haven't been on here for a long time. Whenever you write, it always seems so uplifting. I would like to add myself to the list of people wishing you luck or just wishing that you have a great time. Barcelona was a really lovely place when I visited back in the 90's.
 

Dr.Seuss

One of the Regulars
Messages
113
Location
Denver
Navin:

Table tennis is great fun! My wife and I have long "battles" on the table.

Best of luck! Play the ball!

What would you recommend for an "all-round" blade/rubber combination for someone ready to upgrade from ready-made?
 

Navin323i

Practically Family
Messages
770
Location
Maryland, USA
Gents - Some great news... NBC News interviewed me and my coach earlier this week and taped my training session so NBC will be doing a full feature of me on television sometime either the last week in June or first week in July. In case we miss seeing it, they will provide me with a link to access the television feature and I'll share the link with you all. Your support and good wishes REALLY mean a LOT to me... thank you all. :)

Hi Navin, great attitude and all the best for Barcelona! Will be enough of celebration there after tonight...:)

Hey Don!! Thank you so much!! Yeah, I heard Barcelona won the Football match (Euro Champions League?)

Hi Navin,

I haven't been on here for a long time. Whenever you write, it always seems so uplifting. I would like to add myself to the list of people wishing you luck or just wishing that you have a great time. Barcelona was a really lovely place when I visited back in the 90's.

Hey Nicholas! Open invitation to you and everyone here to find me on Facebook so that you'll get what I hope are inspirational updates of mine sooner. Thank you so much for the good wishes and glad to know you've been there! :)

Navin:

Table tennis is great fun! My wife and I have long "battles" on the table.

Best of luck! Play the ball!

What would you recommend for an "all-round" blade/rubber combination for someone ready to upgrade from ready-made?

Thank you so much!! Great question and one that is always difficult to answer because one paddle may work well with one person but not the other due to differing playing styles. I would check out the paddlepalace.com website and you can do customized searches there for all around paddles and rubber. I personally like Butterfly Sriver as a good all around rubber... it's a classic that has been around for such a long time. Regarding the blade though, that's tough to answer and it'll be a trial and error process until you find what works best for you. I'd look at Butterfly and Stiga paddles. Good luck, my friend!!

All the best, Navin!! Thanks for checking in and sharing your amazing inspiration. Lots of folks in your corner here, sir!

Thank you Sir!! That means a lot to me to have you all in my corner cheering me on... I'm so grateful for that. :)
 

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