'Prodigy' Payas perfectly prevails in Junior & Youth Table Tennis

World Cadet gold medallist Payas Jain played the lead role to help Delhi win both the Junior and Youth boys titles at the 81st Table Tennis Nationals that were organized in Jammu on Thursday.

"It feels great that I could play a role in the win and especially want to give credit to my team as we pulled off some crucial wins despite trailing and coming from behind," Payas said after winning the championship.

The Delhi boy played a key role for the team as the state defeated Gujarat 3-1 after losing the opening rubber. Payas got the better of Dhairya Parmar easily to bring Delhi on the level before combining with Aadarsh Chetri against Chitrax and Dhairya to go 2-1 up. In the reverse singles, Payas,/ though, lost the first game but steadied himself soon to win over Chitrax for the match and title for Delhi. 

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Payas, who became the first Indian ever to bag a silver in Asian Cadet in September, said, “My aim is to see myself in the Indian senior team very soon and I am working hard in all aspects of my game to sustain the elite level competition and challenges."       
With a current rank of World no 41 in the Junior rankings, Payas has already tasted success in the senior circuit in the domestic tournaments as well. He also won a gold in mixed doubles in the recently-concluded Central Zone finals and was a bronze medallist at last year’s National Championships as well.  

Coming from a family of table tennis players, Payas’s performance has not gone unnoticed and he was recently inducted by SAI and TOPS in the list of Olympics 2024 probable. 

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