GSTTA raises ‘Hopes’ with 1st Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021

MODASA, Sept 16: Catch them young! Gujarat State Table Tennis Association (GSTTA) is taking the famous proverb with all seriousness as it introduces the Hopes category for the under-11 players at the Phase-I of the 1st Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021 that will start in Modasa from Friday.
“This is the first time we are introducing the Hopes (U-11) category for both boys and girls. The idea is to promote the sport and inculcate the competitive habit among our paddlers at a young stage. Not only promote, but we also want to identify the talented players and hope to facilitate their training for the bigger challenges,” GSTTA president Mr Vipul Mittra, IAS, said.
“We are pretty excited about the tournament as this is for the first time we are organising the under-11 events. This is in sync with the recent International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) guidelines and also in tune with our aim to make Gujarat a table tennis powerhouse,” GSTTA chairman Mr Milind Torawane, IAS, added.
While the kids will surely grab all the attention, the tournament, which will be supported by ML Gandhi Higher Education Society and The Rotary Club, Aravalli, will also see plenty of action in the Cadet (U-13) and Sub Junior (U-15) categories.
“The 1st Gujarat State Ranking Table Tennis Tournament 2021 will be held in two phases with the first phase starting tomorrow (Friday) in Modasa where we will also see some of the talented youngsters in the under-13 and under-15 categories,” GSTTA secretary and former player Kushal Sangtani added.
Ahmedabad’s Himansh Dahiya, the top seed, showed tremendous form to win the under-15 Boys’ crown at the SBI Gujarat and Inter-District Table Tennis Championship 2021 in Gandhidham, the first competitive tournament of GSTTA in the post COVID era, after beating players who were ranked higher than him.
Himansh appeared to have carried on his form as he won the under-17 and under-15 titles at the recently concluded 1st Open Ahmedabad Ranking Table Tennis Tournament and the youngster will be looking forward to maintaining his recent surge.
However, Himansh can expect stiff resistance from local boys Harshvardhan Patel, the second seed, and Janmejay Patel, the third seed, as the duo will be keen to regain the lost ground on their home turf.
In the Girls’ category, Surat Arnee Parmar, the winner at Gandhidham, will maintain her winning streak but she can once again expect a strong challenge from Ahmedabad’s Pratha Pawar, the rising star who is creating ripples in the post-pandemic world with her scintillating performances. The 12-year Pratha, who is seeded third, lost a close final to Arnee but she showed impressive form in becoming the youngest ever Women’s winner at the Ahmedabad tournament.
But it won’t be a two-horse race as the likes of second seed Moubini Chatterjee and seventh seed Nidhi Prajapati, of Ahmedabad, along with fourth seed Riya Jayswal of Bhavnagar can mount a strong challenge.
Top seed Pratha will be an overwhelming favourite in the Girls’ under-13 category with teammates Hiya Singh, the second seed, Jiya Trivedi, third seed, and Moubini, the fourth seed, are expected to pose a tough challenge.
In the Boys’ event, Ahmedabad’s Aarya Kataria, the top seed, will be hoping to recreate his winning show from Gandhidham. But he can expect some stiff competition from Surat’s Vivaan Dave, the fourth seed, while the likes of Surat’s Samarth Shekhawat, the second seed, could be hard to ignore.