16 and raring to go,Manasi Munj springs a surprise

Manasi said that while she went into the final with nothing to lose,she was disappointed for not winning a game off Divya. “I was very close in the second game and two good returns would have sealed the game,but then Divya’s quality prevailed,” said the diminutive teenager. Manasi admitted that the absence of her father helped her. “The last time I played Divya,my father was shouting instructions to me all the time and that was a bit disconcerting. He wasn’t there for the final and I played with a free mind,” she said.

Manasi,who trains at the Sharda Center table-tennis courts,has played for Maharashtra in the school nationals and has a silver medal in the team event to show for her efforts. Training under coach Upendra Mulye,she is highly rated on the junior circuit. Mulye said Manasi was one of those players who have a very distinct attacking aspect to their game. “She has a lethal forehand and her hitting is very clean. She also manages to impart a huge amount of top spin on her shots and that gives her a distinct advantage,” said Mulye. He is hoping that his charge chooses to make table-tennis her full-time vocation as he feels she has it in her to succeed at the international level.

However,Manasi is torn between academics and table tennis. Though she has been training regularly since she was 11,she is no slouch when it comes to academics. She managed to secure 94 per cent in the Standard 10 board exams and was admitted to Fergusson College.

Manasi,who is from Chinchwad,braves a one-hour commute every day just to get to college,said that while she enjoyed playing table tennis,her ambition was to become an engineer.

Right now she is looking to help her college win the upcoming inter-collegiate table-tennis tournament. “We have a strong team and I really want to win the title in my first appearance for Fergusson,” she added.