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STANFORD UNIVERSITY, Palo Alto, CA SF Bay area
Team India Performs Creditably inspite of lack of support from Indian Table tennis federation Officials
Sam Rao
Palo alto, California: Although the Chinese Boys and Girsl dominated the recently concluded World junior Table Tennis Championships at, Team India (Girls) performed creditably during the event held during December 8-15th . the Maples Pavilion at Stanford University
The four person - all girls- team representing India at the championships were entered into the individual girls table tennis event. Soumi Mondal, Neha Aggarwal, Sanya Sehgal and Divya Deshpande arrived just a day before their games and had to fit in practice and “settling’ in at the hectic schedule of the World championships, held for the first time in the USA. Last year, the event was held in Cairo, Egypt.
The event which had officials from the International Table tennis federation (ITTF) and over 34 countries represented presented the best upcoming table tennis players at the Championships, and spectators could sense the presence of the ‘next era’ champions in their midst. 92 boys and 92 girls participated in the Under-18 years Championships, which had individuals, doubles, mixed doubles and team medals on the line.
Champion Ms. Yang Yang beat compatriot Ms. Wen Jia of China, while similarly for the boys Jeong Sang Eun of Korea beat Xu Ruifeng of China in the Boys’ Singles. The doubles championships for girls were an all China affair, while the Chinese team dominated the Japanese team in the boys doubles.
Ms. Soumi Mondal, a diminutive player from Kolkotta accorded herself best among the Indian contingent, by qualifying from her group and beating Slovokian Andrea Daubnerova while taking a set off from eventual Silver medalist Mu Zi of China. Modal further advanced one more round by beating Russian teenager Valeria Lemeshevskaia, playing a very creditable game, fighting back from a 3-0 deficit in a best of seven match, eventually winning 4-3. Mondal’s play drew loud applause form many in the stands, prompting a Ted Fong, Chinese American gentleman to nod approvingly and complement Mondal saying, ‘ She’s a great fighter.” Mondal eventually lost to Korean Kim Min Hee who reached the quarterfinals.
Each of the other players also performed creditable in their group matches, winning a game against fancied opponent, while battling with the eventual qualifier from their group. Neha Aggarwal beat Atha Fong (USA) and lost to qualifier Yuko Fujji of Japan; while Divya Deshpande beat New Zealand’s Helen Chan and lost to the popular Mirela Durak of Croatia. Sanya Sehgal drew a tough draw losing to eventual Gold Medalist Yang Yang of China and gave a tough 3-1 match to Czech Republics Hana Matelova.
While each of the player was well received by the crowd which included several Indian-Americans like Narendra Nayak and his 11 year old son Avinash; the support by the Indian Table Tennis Federation and officials was inadequate. The official coach, former player Niyati Shah of Chennai was appointed just a week ago and the team manager was local table tennis coach Rajul Sheth, who volunteered for the job, again in the last week. Unfortunately, the coach of Team India was not observed spending much time with players, and even arrived late for the important match of Soumi Mondal- the only Indian player to advance to the qualifier rounds.
The official flooring for the entire tournament was provided by STAG International of Meerut India, with Vikram Kohli in attendance.
Said attendee Narendra Nayak, who made sure his son was in attendance every day after school, “ This is incredible to have a World Championship in our own backyard. I am glad that my son is able to witness such high quality table tennis and learn a few pointers.”
Neha Aggarwal
Sanya Sehgal
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Soumi Mondal
Divya Deshpande.
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Four Girls from India to Compete in WORLD JUNIOR Table Tennis Championships
Dec 8- 15
Palo Alto, California: Four young women will represent India at the World Junior Table Tennis Championships 2007. They are are Neha Aggarwal ; Soumi Mondal , Sanya Sehgal and Divya Deshpande.
The World Junior Table Tennis Championships (WJTTC) will be held at Stanford University on December 8th – 15th. This is the first time the event will be held in the United States, with the best boys and girls age 18 and under competing for a total of seven world titles. < style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">
A totsl of sixteen Girl’s teams and sixteen Boy’s teams, with 96 girls and 96 boys, will play for world titles in Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Boy’s and Girl’s Teams’ categories. The most recent WJTTC was held in Cairo, Egypt in December of 2006. Organizing committees for the event include Area Sports Organizing Committee (BASOC), International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), and U.S. Table Tennis Association (USTTA)
“We’re very pleased to be able to announce the teams and players coming here in December”, said BASOC President & CEO Anne Warner Cribbs. “We guarantee they will find an outstanding venue in Stanford to compete, and spectators should plan onbeing truly amazed at the skill and excitement they will witness in this World Championship.”
Dennis Davis, Event Director and President of the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club explains, “We are very honored to host the junior players of the world. Our organizing < style="font-family: helvetica,arial,sans-serif;">committee has been working very hard to welcome these outstanding players to the San
Francisco Bay Area and we are looking forward to showing our communities the skill, strategy and expertise involved in playing Table Tennis, making Table Tennis the fastest growing sport in the United States.”
ITTF President Adham Sharara said, “We are looking forward to the first Table Tennis World Championship ever in the United States. The 192 boys and girls coming to Stanford have competed for years to play in this event. They are incredible athletes who
will represent our sport, themselves and their countries with distinction”.
In addition, President Adham Sharara will conduct the ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) Executive Committee meetings during the World Championships and officials representing each continent are slated to attend.
“The U.S. Table Tennis Association is honored and proud to be working with ourInternational Federation, BASOC and Stanford University in hosting this tournament for the first time in our country. The popularity of the sport in the United States is growingand the caliber of our play is increasing. We’re confident that our Juniors will continueto improve and eventually compete at the highest levels of the game,” said Mike Cavanaugh, Interim Executive Director, USA Table Tennis.
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