Table tennis is her 'it' game

KATHMANDU, Oct 6: Renuka Khattri, 14, is a familiar name when it comes to exciting table tennis matches. She was born in Bijeshwori of Kathmandu and did her pre-schooling from Rainbow International Boarding School. She joined Bijeshwori Secondary Boarding School after finishing her second grade from the previous one. According to Khattri herself, the entry into the new school was her first step to the fame she holds today.[break]

“I always thought sportspersons had something to be proud of themselves,” she said. It was her second school that provided her with enough assistance needed for her to learn to play ping pong properly. The continuous support from her teachers and friends made her more confident and polished.

Renuka claims that she has won 50 medals so far, among which 35 are gold. From inter-school competitions to international ones, she has been able to mark her smashing presence.

Khattri has participated in many national-level competitions, among which she finds the National Junior Championship worth mentioning as she bagged the gold medal in this competition. She also respectively bagged the second and third prizes in the junior-level and senior-level competitions organized by Prajatantric Youth Club.

At the International level, Renuka has participated twice in each of the SAF (South Asian Federation) Games and the Junior World Circuit Games. She also managed to win the third prize in both the Team Event and Doubles in the first game. In the second one, she won the third prizes in Team Event and Singles.

The star has also been able to manage her studies as satisfactorily as she is maintaining the standards of her game.

“My family insists on maintaining my studies with my games, and I think that’s necessary as well,” she says.

Despite all the help and support she has been receiving, Khattri, however, admits to facing occasional economic constraints to fulfill all her sports needs. “Even though all problems gradually fade away, it’s difficult to manage the bare essentials sometimes,” she says, sounding wiser than her age.

In the future, Khattri wants to take table tennis as her profession, but often gets discouraged when she hears people saying that sports can’t be taken as a career in Nepal.

“I’ll give equal priority to my studies and my game, and see what happens in the future,” Khattri says realistically.

As resolute as she truly is, despite having occasional anxieties, Renuka Khattri is bound to succeed in whatever she is doing at the present rate.