Kandivali Recreation Club (KRC) , Kandivali, is doing a lot to tap talent among children, by regularly conducting Coaching camp under the supervision of Coach and Veteran player Girish Acharya. But, more than that Tejas Naik, who is himself a seasoned TT player and Jt. Secretary of Mahararashtra Masters Table Tennis Committee( MMTTC) is also working hard to train few selected children who have already shown progress in thie game at the district and state level tournaments.
During this summer vacation, Tejas is making himself available twice a week for advance training for thse children. On 1st May, Tejas had invited four senior citizens, who have been performing well at the state and National Masters event; to play practice matches with these four children namely : Rutuja Chinchansure, Aarohee Chafekar, Yatharth Vora and Moksh Shehri. And all four of them played alternately with Sanjay Mehta, Mahesh Shetye, Milind Moghe and Ulhas Shirke- the new Masters National Champ.
Rutuja and Aarohi come all the way from Kalyan- Dombivali. Rutuja is playing in Girls U-17 and is among the top 16 in this group from Maharashtra. In Thane District she is among the top 8 in this group. Rutuja also represented Maharashtra Schools team and won Silver medal at National School Games. Based on this performance, she has received scholarship from Maharashtra State. Aarohee Chafekar is Under -13 Girls player. She has won 3 Thane District U-13 Girls titles and was Runner-up once at Maharashtra State tournament. She is Top seed in Thane district and among the Top 8 in State. At present both Rutuja and Aarohi are trained by Coach Tejas Naik at KRC.
Yatharth Vora is another good talent, who plays in Boys U-19 age group. He is receiving training from Coach Girish Acharya at KRC. Moksh Shehri is also an upcoming talented TT player who is currently playing in Boys U-13 and U-15 and U-17 categories at district and state level competitions. He has also won few medals at the Promotional TT tournaments at Poinsur Gymkhana and PTKS. Moksh is trained at Guru TT Academy.
Speaking about these practice matches, Tejas Naik said, “The senior players with a lot of experience, pose a big challenge for these talented upcoming juniours and therefore they get excellent match practice. I have seen the promise in all of them and hence agreed to coach them atleast two days a week and arrange practice matches for them once in month with senior players who use variety of rubbers. We also have our in house team comprising of renowned TT players like Anil Rasam – Masters National Champ , Sanjay Mehta and others, who offer tips to these children.”