Prachi Jha
November 25, 2009

Prachi Jha

By Prachi Jha

Hello Everybody,

My name is Prachi Jha and I am 12 years young. I started Table Tennis on my eighth birthday. Ever since then, I am passionate about playing Table Tennis.

After school let out in June ’09, I joined the World Champions TT Academy's Summer Camps. The camps featured 4 times world champions Li Zhenshi and Zhang Li along with Stefan Feth, current US Men's National Team Coach and Nan Li, former USA National Team Member. We trained 5 hours every day, stopping only for lunch. The weeks flew by and then I was off to US Open in Las Vegas. US Open was good. I won the Under 13 girls championship event. The highlight of my trip was my win over Judy Hugh 4-3. It was a close match and unexpected win for me. Overall I did good and was satisfied with my performance.

After US Open, I visited my cousins in India. India was hot and humid and the TT Club was not air conditioned. The players I trained with however, were very professional, some already playing internationally. My brother Kanak Jha and I played for a few weeks there.

I continue training hard with my coaches, and to my surprise, learned that I was given the opportunity to participate at the pre-cadet Pan Am Championship in Venezuela in Oct ;09. 14 other countries from South and Central America were also competing in this tournament. I went with Keith Evans (Cadet coach), Charles Deng and my mom. We boarded our flight to Caracas, Venezuela and then drove from there to Valencia. The drive was beautiful, going through the hills and lovely landscape. The weather in Valencia was hot but the tournament Gym was roomier than I expected. Cold water bottles were provided and snacks were available for sale.

On the first day of the tournament I was disappointed to learn that the first 2 days were for team event. Since I was the only girl from USA, I did not have a team so could not play the event. Instead Keith had us use the 2 days to practice and get used to the conditions. The 3rd day was mixed doubles. Charles and I made it to the semi-finals where we lost to Brazil who finally won the gold. This event was a good warm up for the singles event.

Immediately after my first few singles matches, I realized that the South American girls played very differently than me. They pushed heavy, waited for you to attack, then jumped on the ball. They only looped 1 or 2 balls, but played fast and flat rallies. I beat a few players and reached the quarter finals where I narrowly lost 4-3, 11-9 to a girl from Ecuador.

Overall the tournament in Venezuela was an exciting, new experience and I hope to travel and play internationally many more times. I enjoyed my summer very much and I continue to train hard. I am looking forward to the Nationals in December.

I also would like to thank Butterfly for their support of my young TT career. I greatly appreciate their generosity and the superb quality of equipment that helps me become an even better player.