Anand Prakash, the go to man for players

 

 

New Delhi: At an age when he should be telling bed time stories to his grand children,75 year old, Anand Praksh is still active in table tennis circuits. As liaison officer of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), Anand is the go to man for many table tennis players in the country. Invariably, Anand has not let anyone down, while providing assistance for players and others to get their visa and travel arrangements on time.  Age has not diminished his enthusiasm nor his love for the game and is going from strength to strength.

 

A former table player who had represented Delhi in junior nationals held in 1956, Anand joined Indian Airlines after his graduation. He later went on to become the manger-cum-coach of table tennis team which won many major titles in India. He mentored an array of players like Sujay Ghorpade, Rajat Kathuria, Kanchan Dhawan, Bhubaneshari, M.S. Mythili, Ritu Bhola, B. Arun Kumar, R. Hari and Nitin when they were with Indian Airlines/Delhi

 

Anand is a qualified International umpire and had officiated in the World Championships held in Tianzan (China) and in Manchester respectively. He also officiated in the Commonwealth championship held in Nairobi and in Ireland respectively. Asia Cup in Seoul, US Open table tennis championship were the other major events which he officiated.

 

For the last 14 years, he has been coaching the Delhi University table tennis team. The men's team won the all-India Inter-University title this year in Chennai. To add another golden feather to his cap, he completed 50 years of coaching in Lady Sri Ram College in New Delhi.

 

Suffice to say his team had won the inter-collegiate title many times and many of his wards have represented the State in national championships. The college honoured him during their annual college day function for his contributions.  Congrats Anandji !!!  Keep going….

 

                

 Receiving Memento after completing as Coach 50 years in Lady Shri Ram Collage from Ms. Lalitha Kumaramangalam Chairperson of the National Commission for Women alogwith Mr Arun Bharatram Chairman. LSR Governing Body and Dr Suman Sharma, Principal, Lady Shri Ram College.