Raegan bags 2nd MSSA title

Raegan Albuquerque exults after every point. He walks with swagger in the breaks and is arrogant about his game. Make no mistake. The 11-year-old doesn’t do all this after winning, but is polite and just like another kid off the table.

The St Blaise table tennis player knows his game much better than players of his age and is exciting to watch.

The India No 6 put up a superb show to bag his second successive sub-junior (U-12) title of the MSSA inter-school table tennis tournament at the University Pavilion, Marine Lines, on Thursday. He defeated another talented player Chinmaya Somaiya of Ryan International 7-11 9-11 11-7 11-4 11-7 in a thrilling final.

Raegan, who idolises Roger Federer, enjoyed his game against Chinmaya. “This is my third MSSA title. The first was in the U-10 level, followed by the two in U-12. It is obviously a nice feeling to win it,” he said, adding that he was proud of his performance.

He is now getting ready to take on the all-India challenge in Jodhpur. “I’m leaving for Jodhpur on Friday and I will try to put up a similar performance,” he said.

Raegan’s mother Ruth is hopeful that her son will play for India one day. “He is a talented and a hard working kid. Not just that, he is passionate about his game and I’m sure he’ll make us proud,” she said.