Harmeet Desai from Gujarat bags a spot in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Top 16 event to be held in Puerto Rico in January.
Gujarat's Harmeet Desai is set to make history. The Surat-based paddler has joined the elite group of international players who will be showing their skills at the prestigious $36,000 ITTF Junior Circuit Finals to be held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in January 2012. In the prestigious finals, only the top 16 among boys and girls compete. The tournament will be held between January 14 and 22.
It is the first time in Indian history that two Indian juniors have made it to the elite finals. Soumyajit Ghosh is the other Indian who has made it.
Desai, with whom Ghosh shared the honours in 2011- Desai beat Ghosh in the Junior Boys' Singles final at Austria in April and Ghosh extracted revenge at the Dehradun ITTF Indian Open - has captured the seventh spot with 2,790 points. This, in terms of qualifying for the ITTF Junior Circuit Finals, is one place higher than Ghosh. Harmeet's performance at Dehradun lifted his ranking from 28 to 7.
"We are very happy. It is like a dream come true. Being and playing among the top 16 in the world is very exciting and challenging," said Archana Desai, Harmeet's mother. The paddler, meanwhile, has left for a fortnight long practice.
Meanwhile, Ghosh, who captured the ITTF Indian Open junior boys' title in Dehradun last week, has moved to third in the world ranking with 3,325 points. Previously he stood nine places lower at 12 with 2,125 points. The win not only secured the Indian teenager a place among the elite, but also completed the requisite criteria of playing in two continents in order to qualify for the Finals.
Japan's Yuto Muramatsu and Maharu Yoshimura occupy the first and second places, despite the fact they were not in Dehradun; the former has 3,636 points, the latter 2,790 points.
Before landing in San Juan, Harmeet will get a chance to hone his skills at the World Junior Championship in Manama, Bahrain, which are scheduled for November.
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