Daily Archives: December 4, 2017

Tirelessly tutoring TT talent

Gujarati Seva Mandal coach Maduri Venugopal (centre, background) with his wards (from left to right): Vidhi Jain, Ch. Saitejesh, Dr. Chandrachud, Palak Ghia, Nikhat Banu, Varuni Jaiswal and N. Bhaavitha.

Gujarati Seva Mandal has for years trained champions

Coaching children can be a thankless job, with the kids easily distracted or simply not interested. So just as writing for tiny tots requires special communication skills, teaching them a game can be quite taxing.

Maduri Venugopal at the Gujarati Seva Mandal (GSM) in Secunderabad has been churning out champions for years, if not over a decade. While most ‘academies’ charge hefty fees or poach talented players from others and ‘shine’ in their success, GSM’s president Ghanshyambhai B. Patel and secretary Janakbhai Brahmbhatt have ensured their scheme is affordable and within reach of the common man.

Good show

Almost at every table tennis championship, its players, especially the younger ones excel, if not take the honours. The recent Stag and late Sri Ananta Narayan Reddy and late Smt Rameshwaramma Memorial Telangana State Inter District cum State table tennis championship at the Lal Bahadur Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad was no different.

Four wards of the Gujarati Seva Mandal clinched titles while two finished runners-up. Palak Shah in the cadet girls category has remained unbeaten in five State ranking and the inter district championships. Although Nikhat Banu now represents Reserve Bank of India at State and national tournaments, she’s the first big name to emerge from GSM.

Training ground

While Nikhat won the women’s crown, Chandrachud claimed the men’s section honours. A psychiatrist at a corporate hospital with not much time to spare for the game, Dr. Chandrachud trains regularly at the GSM for about a week before each championship. Varuni Jaiswal was supreme in the junior girls section and completed the winning quartet.

N. Bhaavitha in sub-junior girls and Ch. Saitejesh in the junior boys were the runners-up. Varuni will represent Telangana at the senior National championships in three categories — junior, youth girls and women. Others selected to play for Telangana are Vidhi Jain (sub-junior girls), Monica Manohar (women), Saitejesh (men).

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by A. Joseph Anthony / Hyderabad – December 02nd, 2017