NASHIK: Table tennis players Tanisha Kotecha, Sayali Wani and Kushal Chopda of Nashik have been selected in the Maharashtra team for the 83rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships scheduled from June 17 to 23, 2022, in Kerala’s Alappuzha district.
Kushal Chopda has been selected in three categories of the Maharashtra team, i.e. U- 15, U- 17 and U -19. He is Nashik’s first male player to be selected in three categories in one season. He is ranked first, second and fourth in categories of U-15, U-17 and U-19, respectively. At the national level, he is ranked third in the under-15 age group. Kushal is also ranked 176th at the international level.
Speaking of Tanisha Kotecha and Sayali Wani, they were selected in three categories of the Maharashtra team, i.e. U-17, U-19, and women’s group. They are the first women players to represent Nashik in three categories in one season.
Under age group of 17 and 19, Tanisha is ranked second and third in the state, fourth and fifth at the national level, and 43rd and 77th at the international level. Sayali is ranked third and second in the state, 32nd and 24th at the national level, and 86th and 139th at the international level in the same age group. Tanisha Kotecha had recently competed in the WTT Youth Contender Championships in Doha, Austria, Germany and Spain.
Sayali Wani won the national championship in 2021 in the under-15 age group category. She also represented India in the World Youth Table Tennis Championships and won a bronze medal. She also competed in the WTT Youth Contender Championships held in Germany and Spain. Even Kushal had competed in the international championships in Austria in the under-15 age group and reached the quarterfinals. He has won four bronze medals in the under-15 age group at the National Table Tennis Championships.
These three players from Nashik are practising under the guidance of Coach Jay Modak. Namdev Shirgaonkar, General Secretary of the Maharashtra Olympic Association, felicitated these three players and the coach.
While congratulating the players selected for the National Table Tennis Championship to be held in Kerala, Shirgaonkar said that the Maharashtra Olympic Association will come up with a permanent policy in near future to provide maximum assistance to the emerging athletes.
