August 8, 2006 > Milpitas table tennis team wins 25 medals at Junior Olympics

by Sunita Sohrabji

The India Community Center (ICC) table tennis team won 25 medals, including 12 golds, at the 2006 AAU (American Amateur Union) Junior Olympics, held July 28 to31 in Hampton Roads, Virginia. This was the highest medals total of any club in the U.S., with all 13 members of the ICC team winning at least one. Two top-ranked girls, Prachi Jha and Erica Tran, each won three gold medals.

ICC Table Tennis coordinator, Rajul Sheth, coaches the team, along with Germany's top-ranked player Stefan Feth, and Michael Greene, ranked No. 9 in the U.S. for men over-60. This fall, U.S. Olympian Michelle Do will join ICC's table tennis coaching team. Do, who played in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, was the youngest athlete to ever compete with a U.S. Table Tennis Olympic team.

Gold Medals:
Under 10 Girls Singles - Prachi Jha
Under 12 Girls Singles - Erica Tran
Under 10 Boys Doubles - Madhu Lokavarapu and Aarsh Vyas
Under 12 Girls Doubles - Prachi Jha and Erica Tran
Team Under 10 Boys - Aarsh Vyas, Madhu Lokavarapu, Matthew Tran and Kanak
Team Under 12 Girls - Prachi Jha and Erica Tran

Silver Medals:
Under 10 Boys Singles - Aashay Patel
Under 10 Boys Doubles - Arjun Desai and Aashay Patel
Team Under 10 Boys - Arjun Desai, Aashay Patel and Aarsh Shah

Bronze Medals:
Under 10 Boys Doubles - Matthew Tran and Kanak Jha
Under 10 Boys Doubles - Aarsh Shah (playing with non-ICC team member Tong Gong)
Under 12 Boys Doubles - Parth Upadhyay (playing with non-ICC team member Benjamin Yu)
Team Under 14 Boys - Parth Upadhyay, Harsha Lokavarapu and Amit Patel

ICC is the nation's largest Indo-American Center dedicated to promoting Indian culture and enriching lives through educational, cultural, recreational and community programs. Members can enjoy ICC's fitness center, library, kids' learning center, computer labs, classes, cafˇ, and recreation area. ICC is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious organization funded by private contributions, membership dues, fees and grants and run by a small staff with more than 200 volunteers.

For more information contact ICC Milpitas, 555 Los Coches St., Milpitas at (408) 934-1130 or visit www.IndiaCC.org, or email info@indiacc.org.