UJ student reclaims national student table tennis title

Danisha Patel (22), table tennis star from the University of Johannesburg in Auckland Park made her mark at the national student championships in Kimberly on 30 November – 4 December, reclaiming her singles’ title and winning gold in every category she participated in.

Patel won the women’s individual event after beating a rival from the University of Cape Town in the finals of the University Sport South Africa tournament. She also took part in the women’s and mixed doubles’ teams that beat the University of Limpopo and Wits University.

Petal, an honours student in bio-kinetics, has a series of tournaments and wins under her belt, but is showing no sign of slowing down. Her busiest time may still lie ahead as she will take part in two more massive tournaments this year.

Patel will be going to Namibia to take part in the Zone Six Table Tennis Championship, competing against other Southern African countries. She returns on 12 December and will leave again for the Commonwealth Championships in India two days later.

“I actually feel more pressure heading to the Zone Six Champs, where we are one of the best teams taking part and there is quite a bit of pressure to win,” said Patel. She is finishing up her studies at the end of this year, but would still be involved in training and developing up-and-coming UJ players.

By regaining her USSA singles’ title, Patel reaffirmed her spot as one of the best in the country. She won the competition in 2012 and 2013, but missed out on the title in 2014.

More importantly, she will be looking to defend her national senior title, to become a three-time winner.