Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh table tennis circuit has for long been dominated by girls. While Nikhat Banu, K. Spoorthy, and of recent, Akula Sreeja and Naina have been busy accruing one national medal after the other, the boys have been left to satiate their ego with state ranking events. That is until now.
The wind has finally befriended the boys’ sails, so to speak, and the they are now sailing with confidence. Over the last couple of months, lead by S. Fidel R. Snehit, a consistent performer over the years, and V.S. Hari Krishna, the state boys have been taking their talent to places, and collecting medals in return.
The most prominent of those perhaps would be the bronze medals Hari Krishna and Snehit won at the Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championship held at Ajmer, Rajasthan, in the last week of the previous year.
The last time an AP lad have won a medal at the event prior to this was in 2003 when Subham Sharma bagged a bronze in the sub-junior category.
In the sub-junior category, though Snehit lost (12-10, 6-11, 6-11, 12-10, 7-11, 4-11) to Bengal’s Akash Nath in the semifinals, his performance surely caught the eye.
Hari Krishna, meanwhile, can take solace that his loss (10-12, 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 7-1) came against India No.1 Manav Thakkar of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board — an institution known to field strong paddlers in the team.
The bronze may be of a lesser lustre than silver and gold, but by bagging it, the AP boys sent a strong signal to the more illustrious counterparts from Bengal and PSPB. And that seems like smoke signals of a potential golden age.
Earlier, thanks to the exploits of Snehit, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School won gold at the CBSE?nationals at Durgapur in West Bengal, the first time a state team have reached the heights at the event.
In the finals, Snehit played his heart out, as BVBPS defeated Don Bosco School, Guwahati, Assam 3-1.
The good run by the boys has continued in the New Year as well, with Andhra Pradesh team winning silver at the School Games Federation-organised National Schools meet.
Presumably the boys are hungry for more. “I am looking forward to a much better 2014. It’s my last year in the sub-junior category and I want to mark it with a gold medal at the nationals,” said Snehit.
“I have gained experience from playing a lot of few tournaments over the last couple of years and I believe that I am a better player today. I?hope, I can cap it with a gold at the nationals this year,” he added.
Hari Krishna, meanwhile, with an eye on countering the more senior players at the national level, has switched from the GSM Table Tennis Academy to the St Paul’s Stag Academy.
Though GSM has played a crucial role in the development of Hari Krishna’s game, St Paul’s, which has more senior boys under its wings, perhaps will be the right platform for the paddler to take his game to the next level.
Pranjala surges ahead
Pranjala surges ahead
DC Correspondent
Promising Hyderabad tennis player Y. Pranjala continued her good run, advancing to the quarterfinals of the International Tennis Federation Juniors Grade 3 tennis tournament, being played at Chandigarh.
Pranjala, the top seed at the event, defeated Thailand’s Jaipet Anontaweesil 6-3, 6-1 to surge into the Last 8 stage of the tournament. Earlier, Pranjala and her doubles partner Karman Kaur, seeded third at the tournament, were stunned by the Russian-Indonesian pair of Polina Golubouskaya and Rifanty Kahfiani 3-6, 6-4 (3-11).
In the singles match, Pranjala hit the ground running. Breaking her opponent’s serve twice, Pranjala raced to a 4-1 lead before Jaipet hit back. The Thai broke Pranjala’s serve to pull it back 4-3, but Pranjala asserted her dominance by taking the next two games. It was then only a matter of time before she won the second set 6-1.
Schools’ team chess in city from january 21
DC Correspondent
The Hyderabad Chess Association and the Ranga Reddy District Chess Association will jointly organise the all-India inter-school team chess championship from January 21 to 23 at the Lal Bahadur Stadium. Interested schools must contact Sree Krishna on 9247143456. Alternately, they may also write to teluguchess@gmail.com or apchessassn@gmail.com.
Brilliant trophy chess on saturday & sunday
DC Correspondent
The Brilliant Chess Academy is conducting the 92nd Brilliant Trophy chess tournament on January 11 and 12 at Brilliant Grammar School in Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad. The deadline for entries is 1 pm on Friday. For further details, contact J. Subrahmanyam on 9247399717.
Allround Deccan beats Azad
DC Correspondent
Syed Adil smashed a double hundred while G. Srinivas bagged a five-wicket haul as Deccan Blues defeated Azad XI by 75 runs in a high-scoring HCA one-day league cricket match earlier this week. Adil scored 200 as Deccan Blues made 367 for 8 and then, thanks to Srinivas’ 5/63, bundled Azad out for 292 runs.
