Dallas Father-Daughter Duo
Shaquila Sarapao, Press Committee Member
Coming from the core of Texas is a familial pair with hearts as big as the state. Instead of spending the weekend with family or going to the zoo, Vikas Dusad and his 11-year-old daughter Kanika decided to come to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and assist with the NCTTA national collegiate tournament.
But it wasn’t Vikas Dusad’s idea to come out here—instead, it was senior umpire Scott Ryan. “[He] had encouraged me to start umpiring,” Kanika says, “and then told us about this NCTTA tournament. It was a really nice opportunity to help out.”
Their love for the sport didn’t stop with just the two of them. In fact, Mr. Dusad’s wife and his son are also involved in table tennis. He remembers when he and his wife moved to Dallas. “Once we bought our house,” he starts, “we bought a table [because] we used to play amateurishly. Then my son picked it up, and he started beating us. After that, he started getting coaching. And now my daughter has been getting coaching for two years.”
For Kanika, she enjoyed the experience and the logistically sound event, saying that it was “really organized and well-prepared.” Once she gets back to Texas, she’ll be back on the table and training with former U.S. Paralympic National Table Tennis Team Head Coach and USATT Certified National Level Coach, Daniel Rutenberg.
For the two, this was an unforgettable experience. But for the next year, the father of two and husband will be sure to bring all four of them to the next national tournament—in Rockford, Illinois.
About 2024 NCTTA College Table Tennis Championships
The championships are hosted by the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association and the Visit Eau Claire CVB. The event will feature: Men’s and Women’s Singles and Doubles, and Men’s/Coed Teams, Women’s Teams. PongSpace, Joola, the US Coast Guard, Visit Eau Claire and Bluestone Designs sponsor the event. Watch the event on live stream starting Friday, April 12th on http://www.nctta.org/champs/2024/video.html
About NCTTA
The National Collegiate Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) is a non-profit organization established exclusively to promote the sport of table tennis at the college level. As the national governing body for college table tennis in the United States and Canada, NCTTA organizes elite intercollegiate competitions throughout North America. www.nctta.org