Shantesh Swapnil Mapsekar, an enthusiastic 11-year-old budding table tennis player, has made Goa proud on many occasions by winning medals at the State and National levels.
Ranked second by the Table Tennis Federation of India, Shantesh bagged the silver medal at the 11th Even Sports National Ranking Table Tennis Championships 2017 (Central Zone) held at Indore, Madhya Pradesh in the Under-12 category.
“I started my journey in table tennis at the age of seven. When I saw my elder brother playing at the State ranking tournament at Peddem, Mapusa, I also got interest in playing the game,” Shantesh said.
“Looking at my interest my father decided to support me after which I took the game seriously and achieved success. My father has always encouraged me in good and bad times,” he added.
Inspired by role model Zhang Jike, Shantesh aspires to become an ace table tennis player and achieve National recognition. The sixth standard student from St Britto’s High School trains three hours a day and enjoys it thoroughly.
“I was trained under coaches Arun Naik and Anand Naik at the beginning who thought me the basics of the game. It was their efforts and faith in me (I could do better) that has exposed my talent. My hard work has borne the fruits through my performance”, Shantesh disclosed.
Shantesh participated for the first time at National tournament held at Ajmer, Rajasthan by wild card entry where he qualified.
“I played lot of tournaments in the State for the last three years and have won State championship in mini-cadet category which includes Vasco Rotary tournament and Cortalim tournament and runner-up at BPS tournament and Campal, Panjim tournament,” said Shantesh.
Shantesh was also awarded the Young Player of Goa at MCC in Margao and has also bagged a bronze medal at the Siliguri National Team Championship.
“I beat many national ranking players in Siliguri like Tharun (India No. 2), Anand Aadil etc. I was also invited by the PSPB Academy at Ajmer, Rajasthan,” he said.
“One of his favourite moments is winning the runners-up trophy at the 11 Even Sports National Ranking Table Tennis Championships 2017 (Central Zone) which is one of the major tournaments in India,” Shantesh concluded.
Shantesh is currently coached by Dilgit Velingkar and won the U-16 Sub Junior Boys and U-12 Cadet Boys category at the Clube Tennis de Gaspar Dias Table Tennis Championship 2017 held recently.