For the first time in the last 25 years, a boy from the Telugu states won a medal in national table tennis championships!
Sixteen-year-old S. Fidel R. Snehit won a bronze medal in the junior category of the Youth national championships held in Vadodara in Gujarat.
India No. 7 Snehit defeated No. 2 ranked Manush Shah in a nail-biting quarterfinals but lost to No. 4 Parth Virmani of Delhi in semifinals.
While congratulating Snehit for his feat on behalf of the Telangana State Table Tennis Association, the selection committee chairman A. Narasimha Rao said: “Snehit is the first player to win a medal in Junior National Championships in the past 25 years from Telugu land. We are happy with this feat.”
A student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jubilee Hills, Snehit thanked his coach Somnath Ghosh of Global Table Tennis Academy and the School’s Senior Principal C. Rama Devi for their support. “I am happy with my performance in the crucial nationals.
My coach Som bhayya worked hard to prepare me to perform at national level and the tips given by the former national champion S. Raman during my one month stay in Chennai before the national championships too came in handy. I should put more effort to perform well in the coming days,” Snehit said.
Meanwhile, GTTA’s Akula Sreeja bagged another gold when she, along with her teammate Archana Kamat, defeated West Bangal’s Moumita Datta and Priyadarsini Das in Youth Girls doubles finals 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-8).
Representing Airports Authority of India (AAI), Sreeja and Archana duo outsmarted Sagarika Mukharjee & Anuska Dutta of North Bengal in semifinals 3-2 (6-11, 16-18, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7).
A member of AAI team, Sreeja won gold in the youth girls team event on the second day of championship. Sreeja and Archana repeated last year’s feat by winning a gold in their combination.
Global Table Tennis Academy’s coach, Somnath Ghosh, who trains Sreeja and Snehit in a small community hall in Naveen Nagar in Khairatabad, is delighted with the performance of his wards. “I am particularly happy with Snehit's performance. He rose to the occasion and reached semifinals by outsmarting a top ranked player. It is a record sort of medal for Telangana,” Somnath Ghosh said adding that Sreeja shone well in team and doubles.
Snehit is the only player from Telangana who could clinch a medal in individual events in this year’s national championships.
The results
Semifinals: Snehit lost to Parth Virmani (Delhi) 0-4 (5-11, 7-11, 12-14, 11-13).
Quarterfinals: Snehit bt Manush Shah (Gujarat) 4-3 (8-11, 8-11, 11-7, 12-14, 11-9, 17-15, 12-10).
Round 16: Snehit Won against Lrruata Alberto (Mizoram) 3-1 (11-7, 12-14, 11-8, 11-6).
Round 32: Snehit Won against Shubham Ambre (Maharashtra) 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 12-10, 11-6).
Round 64: Snehit Won against Sheoran Vikas (Haryana) 3-0 (11-4, 11-1, 11-4).
