Table-tennis champ heads for Russia
LENASIA table-tennis champion Danisha Patel will have her prowess tested in Russia.
She will be in Kazan to compete at the 2013 Summer Universiade, the second largest sports participation event in the world. More than 13 500 university athletes from around the world will take part in 13 mandatory and 14 optional sports.
The tournament started yesterday and will run until July 17.
Patel, 20, a second-year BSc student at the University of Johannesburg, is one of the three table-tennis players representing South Africa. The others are Gila Barit (University of Pretoria) and Sandra Maremane (Cape Peninsula University of Technology).
“I started playing table tennis when I was 14.
“My granddad (Ambela Patel) had an old table-tennis table he wanted to throw out. My brothers, Bhavik and Amit, repaired it and brought it home.
“We played the game as a pastime. But I took it up as a sport in primary and then high school,” she said.
In 2005, Patel started training with a coach and two years later represented Gauteng in her first junior championships.
It was during this time that she was recognised as “a good player”.
She was selected to represent Gauteng in the senior national championships.
Patel was elected president of the Lenasia Table Tennis Association in January. She also belongs to the Gauteng Central Table Tennis Association.
“I am proud to represent South Africa and my university in Russia. I want to do my best and bring home a medal. It is going to be a great experience and I am looking forward to it.
“I was chosen because I won gold medals in past tournaments I took part in at University Sport South Africa.
“I am part of the 120-strong South African team participating in various sports at the world student games,” said Patel.
She represented South Africa in the World Junior Circuit Tournament in Sweden and the ITTF World Cadet Challenge in Cape Town in 2007.
“When I watch the strong players play table tennis, it just makes me want to improve. I want to learn to move and serve like them.
“The Olympic Games also motivate me to want to perform at my best,” she said.
When Patel graduates from university, she hopes to pursue a career as a biokineticist because it will allow her to continue working closely with athletes.