Tamil Nadu paddler D Vishwa killed in Meghalaya road mishap before national meet

Vishwa Deenadayalan, a Table Tennis player from Tamil Nadu, died and his three teammates were injured in a road mishap in Meghalaya, police said. The tragic incident occurred on Sunday when Vishwa, 18, and three other Tamil Nadu Tennis players were on their way in a tourist taxi from Guwahati airport to Shillong to take part in the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis Championship.

The taxi in which the four players were travelling, collided with a 12-wheel truck at Ri-Bhoi district injuring them critically while Vishwa died on the way to Nongpoh Civil hospital. The other three injured players were rushed from Nongpoh to North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong.

Doctors at the NEIGRIHMS said the three injured players are in a stable condition and out of danger. Vishwa’s parents and other family members will travel to Shillong for the handover of his mortal remains.

The teenagers had won several junior, sub-junior and cadet titles in the country and abroad. Condoling Vishwa’s death, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma tweeted: “Saddened to learn that Tamil Nadu paddler, Deenadayalan Vishwa passed away after an accident in Ri Bhoi district while on his way to Shillong to participate in the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis Championship in our state.”

Saddened to learn that Tamil Nadu paddler, Deenadayalan Vishwa passed away after an accident in Ri Bhoi District while on his way to Shillong to participate in the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis Championship in our State@ianuragthakur @KirenRijiju @mkstalin @CMOTamilnadu pic.twitter.com/sGvAc3eDhe

— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) April 17, 2022

The Meghalaya Table Tennis Association is grieved by the sudden death of the young paddler. Vishwa, who trained at Krishnaswamy TT Club in Anna Nagar (Chennai) and was coached by brothers R. Ramnath Prasad and Jai Prabhu Ram, won the Youth u-19 boys’ singles title in the National-ranking tournament in Dehradun in January last year and finished runner-up in the same category in the South Zone ranking tournament in December 2021.

Vishwa was not in the top eight of the TTTA men's team this season as he hadn’t taken part in the only tournament of the season–the State championships. Due to his travel to Belgrade for a WTT Youth Contender which clashed with the State championships, Vishwa explained to TTTA of his inability to participate in advance and at the same time requested the latter to include him in the team.