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Journalism of Courage
Until four months ago, Pallavi Parasar had been ruling the Assam table tennis arenas, consistently swinging between the No1 and No2 spots in the state rankings. It was in her elder sister Prerna, who too was among top paddlers during her time, that the Sibsagar girl had the first impression of the sport.
Thankfully, Pallavi didn8217;t follow her sister8217;s footsteps entirely and stopped playing after completing her school, even though she admitted contemplating it for a brief period of time.
8220;In Assam, I used to play regularly,8221; said Pallavi, after chalking out an 11-7, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8 and 11-4 4-1 in best of seven games win over Ravina Mutreja to enter the semi-final of the Surjit Kaur memorial table tennis tournament at the St Columba8217;s School.
8220;I had thought of quitting as the academic pressure was rising after class XII. But I got admission in University of Delhi through the sports quota and hence have to keep playing,8221; she added.
Making her mark
Just four months in the capital and she has already beaten many top players. Up next, Pallavi takes on top seed Esha Monga, whom she had defeated in the past. In their last meeting, however, Esha got the better of Pallavi, beating the latter in the final of the Delhi State meet at Pitampura last month.
Many top Delhi Table Tennis Association DTTA officials including AS Kler and SK Jolly feel Pallavi is the next best thing in Delhi8217;s table tennis circles. 8220;She is the most promising of the young bunch of players now. If compared purely on the basis of the game, she is doing better than Esha right now. But we can8217;t allow her to represent the state until there8217;s a vacancy in the top ranks. And she also needs to spend some time here,8221; said Jolly.
Pallavi, on the other hand, is busy finding solutions to a few problems she is facing against her slow opponents. 8220;In Delhi, most of the players are playing with dotted rubbers that slow down the game. In Assam, everyone plays with mark V which is smooth and suited to fast-paced games. In that way I need to make adjustments to my game,8221; she said.
