By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, Mar 30, 2022
“Cho!” shouted a jubilant Jennifer Varghese, the 13-year-old Indian paddler immediately after winning the final point which fetched her the gold medal in the Under-15 age category in the World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender in girls singles events at Salle Omnisport de Rades in Tunisia on Sunday night.
Nagpur’s table tennis player Jennifer did the unthinkable, that too on her first attempt.
The lanky Centre Point School, Katol Road student, clinched twin medals, a silver in Under-17 age category and then bettered her performance to clinch the gold in Under-15 age group on her first attempt on the international circuit.
Nobody expected Jennifer to win two medals on her first attempt, even the paddler herself. And she is glad to mark her arrival on the international arena with a thunderous medal winning performance.
“It is an amazing feeling. Winning medals in my first international tournament, something that I hadn’t been expecting with the level of competitiveness that is present in international tournaments,” said Jennifer while talking with ‘The Hitavada’.
“I am certainly very glad that I was given this opportunity and I tried my best to reach the finals in both the categories,” she added.
Both the medals, the U-17 silver and U-15 gold, satisfied her and there was no comparison as to which she loved winning most. “Both (medals) are satisfying. For both the medals, I played (against) formidable opponents in both categories. The silver motivated me to try harder and the gold inspired me to look forward to more opponents and try my best in all categories,” explained Jennifer, daughter of Thomas and Tina.
Entering into her first maiden international tournament, Jennifer was a bit nervous and had her doubts too as to how things would pan out. But she gave her best and the result was there to be seen.
“Everyone who participates in a tournament wants to win it. I, too, hoped the same but considering that it was my maiden international tournament I had my doubts too. But I gave my best and I am happy that I could win medals in both categories,” she said.
Jennifer followed a set practice pattern to prepare for this tournament and gave more stress on her fitness routines.
“I followed certain practice routines set up by my coaches (Chennai’s R Rajesh and Ujjwal Wani at Nagpur). I did fitness routines regularly to prepare for the tournament.
“I was playing after a long COVID break which had hampered her preparation.
“When the COVID situation occurred, I was quite unhappy since I couldn’t continue with my practice. I could not focus on my training and my confidence got wavered. But I am extremely thankful for my coach and my family who supported me and helped me get my focus straight,” Jennifer mentioned.
Jennifer, who gave stress on improving her fitness and fine-tuning her stroke play, is aware that the road from here on would get tougher and she will have to work more hard. She wants to play more tournaments so that she can be ready to face toughest of the opponents. “The road ahead is indeed tough but I hope I can prepare for it by playing more tournaments, improving my fitness and ultimately my game,” Jennifer concluded.
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