Table tennis, a popular worldwide sport which challenges players mentally, is played nationally by some students attending MHS.
Senior Diyan Shah plays competitively nationally, he said.
“My favorite memory was last year, the 2023 US Nationals. I won gold in my rating event in Fort Worth, Texas,” Shah said.
He practices every day for around 2-3 hours a day, said Shah.
“I try to properly schedule my classes right after school, so then I finish up with that, and right after I end my class, I just work on homework and stuff.” said Shah.
Shah has been playing table tennis for six years, nationally, he said. He prefers singles because he can fully utilize his forehand and backhand, he said.
Junior Anish Sivakumar has learned that it takes time to succeed, he said.
“Success is not fast and failures are inevitable,” Sivakumar said.
Sivakumar, also a national player, has been playing a mix of singles and doubles table tennis for six years, he said.
Junior Tanish Balamurugan plays nationally and has also been playing table tennis for 6 years, he said. He won first place in his latest club tournament, Balamurgugan said.
He started off playing table tennis at a summer camp where he found it interesting and decided he wanted to play, he said.
“My favorite memory is playing table tennis with my 9-year-old sister, who also plays table tennis,” Balamurugan said.
Table tennis has given Shah a lot of time to think and taught him many morals that help him in his daily life, he said.
“Don’t think, become. Which is like, don’t just get stuck in thought, but like, actually try to do those things.” said Shah.
Table tennis tournaments are played based on your rating over time and depending on different categories, Sivakumar said. These tournaments are done within brackets to find who won first place, he said.
“I played many sports like soccer and basketball. I found table tennis at a summer camp at ICC, and I really liked it, so I just continued with table tennis.” Shah said.
For beginners, take it slow and master the basics. Once you get that down, you can become more strategic, said Shah, encouraging those who want to start playing.
“I try to cut off things that distract me (to balance my social and academic life).” said Balamurgugan.
He prefers to play singles because there are more tournaments for singles, said Balamurgugan.
“Table tennis has made me mentally stronger. I’m able to think better during high pressure situations.” said Balamurgugan.