Muhammad Mudassar wins 2025 Brampton athlete of the year award

Muhammad Mudassar's place in Brampton sports was defined by more than a medal count. The Para table tennis standout received the 2025 Ken Giles Amateur Athlete of the Year Award, a civic honour reserved for amateur athletes whose dedication, excellence and sportsmanship have made a lasting impact.

Mudassar's path to that recognition stretched from Pakistan to Canada and from childhood adversity to international competition. He contracted polio at age two and has used a wheelchair since childhood, then began playing wheelchair table tennis as a teenager while attending college in Pakistan after watching classmates play. Since then, he has represented Canada at the Commonwealth Games, the Parapan American Games and other international events, building a résumé that now includes more than 100 medals and 28 Canadian Para Table Tennis Championship gold medals in singles and doubles.

The numbers only tell part of why Brampton singled him out. Table Tennis Canada said Mudassar returned to Parapan Am competition in 2023 after first debuting at the Toronto Parapan Am Games eight years earlier, and he was ranked world No. 62 in his category at the time. That level of staying power matters in a sport where selection is unforgiving and elite form can turn on a few points.

His award also recognized work that rarely shows up in a final score. As a certified Para table tennis coach, Mudassar has spent countless volunteer hours supporting athletes and helping newcomers discover the sport, work Table Tennis Canada says has strengthened Canada's wheelchair pathway. President Adham Sharara praised him as a tremendous ambassador for the sport, and the city's Citizen Awards program, which has recognized more than 3,500 residents since 1974, placed him alongside Brampton's most visible community contributors.

At the June 1 Citizen Awards ceremony, the honour became a public statement about what Para table tennis can mean beyond results alone. The City of Brampton says the Citizen Awards celebrate residents who have made meaningful contributions to sports, arts and community service, and Mudassar's career fit that brief with rare force. His legacy now reaches well past the table, where competition, coaching and civic recognition meet.