Table tennis has had a dual effect on Shaounak Pawar, the St Blaise School (Andheri) lad.
“I was not good at my studies. I never took it seriously. But table tennis has improved my concentration.
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I now get good grades in exams,” said Shaounak after winning both his ties in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) U-14 inter-school table tennis competition at University Pavilion, Marine Lines yesterday.u00a0
Shaounak, who got a Round One bye, first beat Ronit Khetwani of Bombay Scottish (Mahim) 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 in Round Two. Half-an-hour later in the next match, Shaounak defeated Siddharth Joshi of Jamnabai Narsee (Juhu) 11-7, 11-5, 11-5.
Shaounak was tested in his third round match against Siddharth. The St Blaise lad had to fight hard for each point in the see-saw battle. Siddharth seemed to fizzle out once Shaounak unleashed his top spin.u00a0