Mumbai girl Diya Chitale, who recently tasted her maiden success in the senior circuit, has moved to the joint top position in the women’s ranking as per the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI’s) list dated 9th January 2022. She shares first place with her seniors Mumbai-based Reeth Rishya of PSPB and Sreeja Akula of RBI.
Diya Chitale
The 18-year-old TSTTA paddler Diya had earlier this week clinched the women’s singles crown in the UTT National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships in Indore and with the 90 points collected from that effort she accumulated a tally of 225 points the same as runner-up Reeth (60 points) and losing semi-finalist Sreeja (45 points).
Before the start of the Central Zone event, Diya was in joint fifth position, but she exhibited solid determination and resilience which enabled her to sideline the top two seeds en route to emerging champion that ensured her way to the top. This is a big achievement for this youngster, who has already made her presence felt at the international level tournaments in the Girls and Under 19 age group along with another youngster from Navi Mumbai -Swastika Ghosh.
It may be recalled that as a little girl Diya showed the signs of her potential at the age of 10 , when she played in the MCF Open tournament at Borivali in Mumbai. And thereafter there was no stopping for her. Every year, we saw a lot of improvement in her game, as she challenged her competitors from higher age group. Thanks to her mentor and coach Sachin Shetty. But, this would not have been possible without the encouragement from her parents. Magzmumbai wishes her a grand success in days to come.