This is just the beginning, says paddler Selena

She had a brief stay in the second position after her phenomenal run in Egypt in October but subsequently she was surpassed by Belgium’s Lisa Lung after the Portugal Junior Open.

Selena is now eligible to take part in the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals in Luxembourg during the first week of February. The showpiece event comprises the top 15 players from across the globe, who will square off against each other for the coveted trophy. “I am now focussing on clinching a gold in the upcoming National Championships (in January) and will then shift my focus to the ITTF Finals in Luxembourg,” she added.

She pocketed almost half of the overall points in the Egypt Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Open at Sharm El Sheikh. It helped her leapfrog 12 positions and enabled her to reach career-best spot of number two. Her next major contribution came in Slovenia, where she finished runner-up and bagged 550 valuable points. She also grabbed 350, 200 and 192 points in Tunisia, Belgium and India respectively in the international calendar.

When asked about the process in choosing her International tournaments, she added, “It all depends on my availability. There are times where the National Championships clash with some of the International events.”

She remains the only Indian in the top-15, with Archana Kamath (Karnataka) and Yashini Sivasankar (Tamil Nadu) placed 16th and 21st respectively in the final standings. Japanese Maki Shiomi tops the list while Belgium’s Lisa Lung stays just ahead of Selena. “Now that she is placed third in the world in junior category, she will have to work doubly hard to maintain her stay at the top of the standings,” said Arul Selvi, Selena’s mother and coach.