TN paddlers return with rich haul of medals

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHENNAI,  FEB 12

Tamilnadu paddlers were given a warm reception at the Central Railway Station when they returned after a very successful medal haul at the recently concluded National Junior and Youth Inter State Table Tennis Championship held at Ahmedabad.  

The cynosure of all eyes was the diminutive T.Reeth Rishya  who won the Individual Gold and became the only the third Tamilnadu girl after J.Swarna ( 2003) and K.Shamini ( 2004 ) to have won the National Junior Table Tennis Title.  This 11^th standard student of Kalki Ranaganathan Monfort Mat.Hr.Sec School , Chennai did her self and the State proud by her consistent performance through out the tournament.  T.Reeth Rishya who trains at the Ransa Table Tennis Centre had previously missed the National Title in the Sub Junior finals at Vijayawada a couple of years back when she lost in the finals.  Apart from the Gold she also won 2 Bronze Medals in the company of S.Krithuka in both Youth and Junior Girls Section.

 Commenting on her victory, the state coach V.Vasu who also trains her at the Ransa club said “Her strongest weapon was her backhand top spin.  No one could read her backhand shots. Further, she was outstanding with her serve and received the service very sensibly”.

The Tamilnadu paddlers returned with 3 golds, 1 silver and 5 bronze medals.  G.Sathyan who won the Youth Boys title stayed back for the Inter Petroleum Tournament and did not return with the team.  The third gold was won by the Tamilnadu Youth boys team consisting of G.Satyan, E.Prabhakaran, Nitin Thiruvengadam and R.Venkataraman.  The lone silver medal was bagged by R.Venkataraman and 

E.Prabhakaran in the Youth boys section.  The 5 bronze medals went to Jr.Boys Doubles : Kishore Kumar & Kalaivanan. Jr.Girls Doubles : T.Reeth Rishya & S.Krithuka. Youth Girls Doubles : T.Reeth Rishya & S.Krithuka. Youth Boys Singles : L.Satheeswaran. Junior Girls Singles  : S.Krithuka.

This is one of the richest hauls of Medals won by the Tamil Nadu Table Tennis players in recent times.  Winning medals at Junior and Youth level augers well for the future of Tamilnadu Table Tennis as this servers as a formidable base to build upon.

 The players were received among others at the Central Railway Station were D.V.Sundar, Hon.Sec, NTTA , J.Selva Kumar, Hon.Sec, MDTA, T.K.Vijayarangam, Jt.Sec, TTFI, Ravi Venkatesh former International  and the proud parents of the players.