Anyone who would like to emulate a successful person should interact with 16-year-old Karnam Spoorthy, city’s international table tennis player, for she has created a whole new formula forstudents. This bubbly teenager garnered a mind-boggling 99 per cent in the Intermediate in BiPC segment this year and her academic achievement shines even more brightly when one realises she is also an accomplished table tennis player.
Incidentally, she got an impressive 99.6 per cent in the first year, much to delight of the TT fraternity. She was sub junior No. 1 and No.2 in junior segment in the country. She gave up the game temporarily for the sake of preparing for the exams. Spoorthy is one among the top 10 senior women players in the country and she won Fajr Cup at Iran representing the senior Indian team in 2013.
Spoorthy, daughter of hotelier Karnam Balaram, took up table tennis while watching her father play and became an ardent student of the game. Credit should go to her father, who follows her around the country often giving up his flourishing hotel business to give the all-important support to his daughter. The Sri Gayathri College student has travelled over seven countries participating in 12 international tourneys and winning medals in the USA Open fixtures.
She gave up table tennis in February after taking permission from Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and Andhra Pradesh Table Tennis Association (APTTA). “She hardly had three months of preparation for both senior Intermediate and EAMCET entrance exam. Her aim is to get a medical seat and become a doctor. She will be appearing for her EAMCET on May 22,” says Balaram. Andhra Pradesh Table Tennis Association secretary S.M. Sultan says that Spoorthy is keen to get back to table tennis after EAMCET exam for she is missing all the on-court action. “Her dedication is awe-inspiring. She will plunge into TT head on as she had to take part in the ranking tournaments to improve her ranking to earn a slot in the international teams. Spoorthy, unlike many students believes in studying in the evening from 4 to 7 p.m., after school, and then she picks up her TT paraphernalia to head towards the DRRMC indoor stadium.. She practises till 10.30 p.m. before she hits the bed. She always felt study comes first and play later,” says K. Jayaram, former AP champion and her coach.
