Gandhidham, October 15: Archana Kamath Girish will represent the Asian Region in the 2014 World Cadet Challenge to be held at Bridgetown, Barbados, from October 23 to November 1. Archana will be leaving for Barbados Monday next.

Archana, with her excellent showing in the Asian Juniors at Mumbai, was selected by the selection committee members from the Asian Table Tennis Union (ATTU) who had assembled at the Mumbai championships in September.

The selectors were so impressed with her performance that she was chosen ahead of other Indian players as well as those from other countries. She was, however, the fifth player according to performance and ranking points obtained there. With only four paddlers allowed to represent the continent, Archana was lucky to make it to the team after the fourth-ranked player pulled out, citing personal reasons. The ATTU gave the nod to Archana, the first standby player, and communicated her selection to the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).

The Karnataka girl’s rise has been steady since she won the Central Zone Championships last year at Ajmer. Since then she has not looked back. Yet, the 14-year-old was unable to retain her crown at Indore where the season’s zonal events kicked off. But she came back strongly to regain the title last evening in the ongoing National Ranking (West Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the KDTTA indoor stadium here.

Talking to TTFI, Archana said, “I am thrilled to have been selected for the World Cadet. I know it is a prestigious event and I have been lucky enough to get picked for the Challenge. I will try to justify my selection and do proud to both the country as well as the Asian region,” said the Bengaluru girl.

Talking on her selection, TTFI secretary-general Dhanraj Choudhary spoke highly of the girl’s talent. “She is very promising and can go places if she is able to maintain her level of performance. Archana will gain in experience when she plays in the company of other Asian players at Barbados,” said Choudhary.

The first ever ITTF World Cadet Challenge was staged in the Hungarian city of Tiszaujvaros in June 2002 when China dominated proceedings. The Boys’ and Girls’ Singles champions were two young players who went on to become World champions. Zhang Jike won the Boys’ Singles title and progressed to become both Olympic and World champion; the Girls’ Singles crown was donned by Cao Zhen, winner of the Mixed Doubles title at the World Championships in 2009 and 2011.

A quite unique tournament in the world of sport, innovative and one that is now firmly established on the ITTF calendar, the 2014 ITTF Cadet Challenge will generate interests as the championships will feature Boys’ Team, Girls’ Team, Boys’ Singles, Girls’ Singles, Boys’ Doubles and Girls’ Doubles in the cadet category.

As for the entries, the six continental teams plus a Hopes Team and Barbados as hosts will take part in the 2014 ITTF World Cadet Challenge.