When club member and Free Church A number one, Deepak Chandrababu, flew back home to India at the start of December he could have been forgiven for looking forward to a relaxing break over Christmas and the New Year. As it turned out, things weren't quite as relaxing as he might have hoped for!
On Sunday 18th December, Deepak entered the Thiruvallur Annual District Table Tennis Championships, which was held at a Chennai based table tennis academy. There were over 250 participants in the tournament, including a Men's Singles entry in excess of 100.
This was Deepak's first competitive action in India in ten years and after some close, competitive games in the qualifying stages Deepak had earned his place in the main draw. Deepak then proceeded to win his last 16 match 3-0 win and followed this up with a 3-1 victory in the quarter final.
In the semi-final, Deepak maintained his scintillating form with a 3-0 demolition of his opponent to stride purposefully into the final in his first district appearance in a decade!
The final was a nail biting affair, played in front of a crowd of over 150 people. Deepak found himself 0-2 down and could have been forgiven for thinking that runner-up was a pretty good return for his efforts. However, giving less than 100% until the bitter end is not something which is in Deepak's make-up and in typical fashion he fought back. The next three games featured some truly excellent rallies and both players demonstrated strong fighting spirit and top class sportsmanship. It was, though, Deepak who maintained the momentum and took the deciding leg 11-9 to lift the Thiruvallur Men's Singles District Champion 2011 trophy!
A huge well done to Deepak for an excellent performance!
