GSTTA awarded Rs 2 lakh to Harmeet Desai on World TT Day

Ahmedabad: Gujarat’s star paddler Harmeet Desai received a reward of Rs 2 lakhs from Gujarat State Table Tennis Association as part of their celebration of the World Table Tennis Day on April 23, 2023 at EKA Club, The TransStadia in Ahmedabad.

The 29-year-old Arjuna Awardee received this cash prize for his contribution to the gold-medal winning Indian TT team at the Birmingham CWG 2022.

There was more joy for the Desai household as Harmeet’s wife Kritwika Sinha Roy bagged the Best Women player award while Harmeet’s elder brother Hraday Desai was adjudged the best coach (Cadet & Sub Junior).

Gujarat’s international paddlers-Surat’s Manav Thakkar and Vadodara’s Manush Shah-too received rs 25000 each as cash reward for their fabulous show in national and international tournaments all around the year.

GSTTA lauded the effort of the Gujarat’s men team consisting of Harmeet, Manav, Manush, Chitrax Bhatt and Ishaan Hingorani that won the historic Men’s team gold medal in the 36th National Games held in Gujarat last year.

For the first-time ever in GSTTA’s history, as many as 18 para-paddlers were given awards for their stupendous show at the Para-National Championship 2022.

GSTTA president Pramod Chaudhary, who presided over the glittering award ceremony, said that GSTTA is fully committed to creating a conducive environment for our players to grow. “Harmeet has brought so much pride to our nation. We want the younger generation to look up to him and become a star player like him,” he said.

List of awardees:

– Best Player

Best Hopes (U-11) female player: Daniya Godil (Surat); Best Hopes (U-11) male player: Hridan Patel (Surat);  Best Cadet (U-13) female player: Mouboni Chatterjee (Ahmedabad); Best Cadet (U-13) male player: Samarth Shekhawat (Surat); Best Sub-Junior (U-15) female player: Pratha Pawar (Ahmedabad); Best Sub-Junior (U-15) male player: Aayush Tanna (Surat); Best Junior (U-17) female player: Pratha Pawar (Ahmedabad); Best Junior (U-17) male player: Arman Shaikh (Aravalli); Best Junior (U-19) female player: Namna Jayswal (Bhavnagar); Best Junior (U-19) male player: Burhanuddin Malubhaiwala (Surat);

Best Women Player: Krittwika Sinha Roy (Surat),

Best Men Player: Manush Shah (Vadodara),

Best overall Player: Harmeet Desai

Other Awards:

– 36th National Games Medallist: Ishaan Hingorani (Kachchh); Chitrax Bhatt (Ahmedabad);

– Para National Championships 2022: Vidhya Begadiya (Ahmedabad), Sonal Dabhi (Bhavnagar), Shital Darji (Ahmedabad), Sarla Solanki (Bhavnagar), Bhavna Champaneri (Bhavnagar), Satish Rana, Ramesh Chaudhary (Ahmedabad), Jashvant Chaudhary (Ahmedabad), Alpesh Sutariya (Bhavnagar), Usha Rathod (Ahmedabad), Manisha Sonagara (Rajkot), Dhwani Shah (Rajkot), Bhavika Kukadiya (Surat), Sonal Patel (Ahmedabad), Jamani Nurjahan (Ahmedabad), Bhavina Patel (Ahmedabad), Bhartiben Paddharia (Bhavnagar), Yezdi Bhamgara (Valsad).

– Deaf & Dumb National Medallist: Shiney Gomes (Ahmedabad), Jeet Pandya (Ahmedabad).

– International medallists: Vivaan Dave (Surat), Krisha Patel (Surat), Manav Thakkar (Surat)

– Best Veteran female player: Prasanna Parekh (Ahmedabad); Best Veteran male player: Malay Thakkar (Surat);

– Best Coach (Cadet & Sub Junior) Hraday Desai (Surat);

– Best Coach (Junior & Youth): Mazhar Suthar (Aravalli);

– Best Coach (Senior): Devesh Karia (Ahmedabad);

– Best Umpire: Deepak Sarvaiya (International umpire) (Bhavnagar);

– Best Organised State Tournament:Kachchh District Table Tennis Association;

– Best Emerging District Association: Table Tennis Association of Gandhinagar; — Best Overall District Association: Table Tennis Association of Surat District;