On 3rd August 2016, one of the most anticipated competitions in the city of Surat, the District Level Table Tennis Competition, took place at Essar International School, Hazira.

The tournament was for the students of age groups under-14, under-17 and under-19. Around 14 schools, comprising a total of 125 students, enthusiastically took part in the competition.

In the under-14 group, 49 student participated from which, 6 got selected for the State Level Competition. Under the guidance of Devang Sir, the table tennis coach of AVM team, Nirmaan Patel of Class 7 made it to the finals. He played the finals against Manav of Fountain Head School, Surat in which he fought hard but unfortunately lost. He secured the second position and also got selected for the State Level Competition.  Utsav Choksi of Class 7 also made it to State Level Competition by securing the sixth position in the tournament in this age group.

In the under-17 group also there were 49 students registered. Again, Rushay Modi of Class 9 got into finals. The finals was against Vedant Jaju from Tapti Valley School, Surat in which he lost but with his second position, he got selected for the State Level Competition. Along with him, Saurabh Bhamre of Class 9 also got selected securing the sixth position overall.

In the under-19 group, a total of 27 students appeared for the competition. Smith Patel of Class 11 Science paved his way to the finals. He lost the match against Nirmay Chowksi from Fountain Head School but with second position, he got selected for the State Level Competition. Accompanying him, Smit Lad of Class 10 secured the fourth position and got his name registered in the State Level Competition.

On one hand, our team faced a disappointing situation to have reached the finals in all the three groups and on the other, we felt glad for each other to be selected for the State Level Tournament.

Ultimately, it was because of the guidance of Devang Sir and the hard work of students that we were able to give our best in the competition.

Reported by: Smit P. Lad (School Vice Head Boy)