Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) Three Indian paddlers — Mumbai’s Mudit Dani, wild card entrant Siddhesh Pande from Thane and Archana Kamat from Bengaluru — will feature in the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals to be played in Indore from January 22 to 24.
The three-day event is the culmination of 30 tournaments across six continents from which 16 boys and girls each have qualified to compete in Indore. The 32 players will represent more than 15 countries.
Mudit, 17, ended 2015 ranked No.27 on the ITTF Global Junior Circuit Standings and is the highest Indian on the circuit standings with 1,476 points. During 2015, Mudit participated in various events such as the World Junior Circuit Finals, US Open and ITTF Junior Opens in Bahrain, Tunisia, Mauritius and Jordan.
Through his consistent performances he received one silver and three bronze medals. He qualifies as the No.14 player as there is a selection criteria of maximum of two players per national association.
Archana, 15, with her current World U-18 Ranking of 40 is the highest ranked Indian player and appears at No.20 on the 2015 ITTF WJC-Girls standings of eligible players with 1,624 points, following her Junior Girls Title win at the India Junior Open, and her pre-quarterfinal appearances at the Thailand Junior Open and Croatia Junior Open. She makes the top-16 as the 13th player.
Siddhesh has an international ranking of 89 and has made the grade as a wild card. Besides being the National Champion, Pande’s international success is a gold at the Indian Open.
Romania’s 16-year-old Adina Diaconu is the highest ranked player among the girls, while among the boys the honour goes to Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic.