The 17 Year old Vidya Mandir (Mylapore) school boy is working hard towards International success and is hoping to make a long term career in Table Tennis
Ananth Devarajan has jumped to Number 4 in National TT Rankings in Junior Boys this year
Vidya Mandir has been known for producing some quality cricketers in the decades gone bye. However, a Mylapore boy chose a completely different sport away from this popular one. And he has made
rapid strides in his sporting journey shooting up into the top four in the
national Table Tennis rankings in Junior Boys. This season, he has been the top
ranked player in Tamil Nadu in the Junior Boys category.
It
was an interesting move by his father when the boy was just 7years. Devarajan
was a quality Shuttle player, but he initiated his son Ananth into Table Tennis
away from a sport played by his father all through his teenage years.
And
soon, the father’s move seemed to be vindicated for the young boy lapped on to
TT showing great interest in a game that no one in his family had previously
played. He practiced three hours every day thrice a week under three different
coaches - Ravi Venkatesh, Vasu and Ramachandran focusing on improving his
reflexes, consistency and speed as well as on receiving and delivering the
service
By
the time he was 10, he started winning tournaments and was ranked third in the
U12 category. He
moved into the top position in U 14 and was the state Number one for two years. To
date Ananth has won over 20 tournaments. This season (2015-16) alone he has won
6 out of the 9 state ranking tournaments.
In
the inter school CBSE clusters tournament, Ananth won Gold representing his
school in TN state clusters. He also won the Silver medal in the individual
boys U19 singles in the national CBSE inter -school clusters tournament.
Beats India No. 1 in 2015-16
In
the Zonals held earlier this season in Thane, Ananth beat India No. 1, his best
win to-date. He is currently ranked No. 2 in the state in Youth Boys (U 19)
category.
Ananth Devarajan will soon be playing for India in an international ‘Junior Boys’ tournament based on his top four national ranking.
Taking up TT
professionally
The good
news is that Ananth is confident of taking to TT as a career now that he is
confident of beating the big guns in India. His
immediate aim is to finish in the Top 8 in the national rankings in U19 and to
maintain his No. 1 ranking in the state. If he
maintains the top four national ranking over the next couple of years, competing
in the Euro League is a real possibility.
With Ananth set to enter college life later this year, it is
hoped that his shuttler father will continue to encourage him to pursue his interest in TT
in his quest for higher glory.
Prabhu ...good to see that you have started to show interest in other sports personalities as well.
ReplyDeleteWe need more people like Mr.Devarajan who had the forethought and guts to allow his kid to take on TT and helped Ananth as a winner.
Hope they have the all that is necessary to overcome all the obstacles to make Ananth a world class player. Good Luck to him and his Dad.
Thanks for sharing Prabhu.
Thanks for the kind words.
ReplyDeletePrabhu
I hope the system supports the talent.
ReplyDeleteIn most cases talents disappear thanks to the system.
The fact that our main stream media doesn't recognize sports other than Cricket (other than cricket it is only scams in sports administration that is covered) only accentuates the problem.
( from the Middle East)
Since the boy is from Vidya Mandir, his father can try to get corporate funding for his future since many of the ex- Vidya Mandir students are in top positions.
ReplyDeleteBy getting corporate funding/sponsorship, he can focus on the sport for the next few years and give his best.
( from Dubai)
Any parent that allows their children to do what they want/ are good at have my respect and admiration.
ReplyDeleteWishing that Ananth becomes one of our most famous TT players
Anu