Promising Indian table tennis player Vishwa Deenadayalan of Tamil Nadu, who was on his way to Shillong to participate in the 83rd Senior National and Inter-State Championships, died in a road accident on Sunday, April 17. Vishwa was 18. He was travelling in a car along with his three teammates from Guwahati to Shillong when a 12-wheel trailer, coming from the opposite direction, ploughed through the road divider and hit the vehicle at Shangbangla and plunged into the gorge.
According to a release issued by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), the driver died on the spot, while Vishwa was declared brought dead by the doctors at the Nongpoh Civil Hospital. His teammates -- Ramesh Santosh Kumar, Abinash Prasannaji Srinivasan and Kishore Kumar -- suffered severe injuries but are currently stable.
The organisers of the championships had rushed them to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Shillong for critical care. "The team of doctors attending to them said the boys were stable," the release said.
Vishwa's father and two of his family members have rushed to Guwahati and his embalmed body will be flown to Chennai on Monday morning.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the 18-year-old's death. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi tweeted, "The demise of TT champion Vishwa Deenadayalan is shocking and saddening. He was admired by fellow players and had distinguished himself in several competitions. In this tragic hour my thoughts are with his family and friends. Om Shanti."
Offering his condolences, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said, “Shocked beyond words to hear about the heartbreaking & untimely demise of our young, promising Table Tennis player Vishwa Deenadayalan. He was a legend-in-making and it pains me that he left us too soon.”
Vishwa, a promising player with several national ranking titles and international medals to his credit, was to represent India at the WTT Youth Contender at Linz, Austria, from April 27. Having trained at the Krishnaswamy TT Club in Chennai's Anna Nagar, he had come in for praise from none other than Sharath Kamal. Vishwa's transition from cadet and sub-junior to junior section was steady. He had won the cadet and sub-junior national titles also.
The B.Com student of Loyola College won the Under-19 Boys title during the Dehra Dun National Ranking Tournament this January.