Aniket Koparkar to train in Germany

Pune, Jan 8 (UNI) Aniket Koparkar, the winner of the singles title in the first ever Under-21 national table tennis championship concluded at Cuttack recently, will leave for Germany on January 11 for advance training.

Talking to UNI, Aniket said he would train at Brussia Dusseldorf for the next four weeks and also represent his club Brhul Wochem in the German League, which attracts leading paddlers from all over Europe.

His two-month stint earlier in Dusseldorf stood him in good stead and helped him to win the title, he said.

Air India-sponsored Aniket, who hails from Pune, won the under-21 national singles title by defeating ace Achanta Rajat Kamal of Tamil Nadu in the finals at Cuttack.

The 18-year-old student of Symbiosis College said he will return in February to appear for his Class 12th examination.

Aniket also plans to have a two month training-cum-coaching stint at Seoul in South Korea, where he will be trained by that country's national coach Jee John.

''I will be training at their national training centre for juniors which will give me the opportunity to train and practice with the leading (under-18) junior paddlers of that country,'' he added.

After having trained under coach Sunil Babras for seven years, Aniket is now being trained by former Olympian Kamlesh Mehta.

UNI