Hyderabad’s Hruthik Katakam selected for Junior Davis Cup Finals

Hyderabad tennis player Hruthik Katakam has been selected to represent India at the Junior Davis Cup Finals in Cairo from November 2 to 8. The Under-16 event will feature 16 teams, with Hruthik joining Ribhav Saroha and Tavish Pahwa

Hyderabad: Hruthik Katakam of Hyderabad has been selected to represent India in the Junior Davis Cup Finals to be held from November 2 to 8 in Cairo, Egypt.

The other members of the team are Ribhav Saroha and Tavish Pahwa, with Rana Banerjee as the coach.

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This marks the first time in history that the Under-16 world team championship is being hosted in Africa.

India earned its place through regional qualifying events and joins a highly competitive 16-team global field. The tournament features some of the best young tennis talents from across the globe.

The Finals will be split into four round-robin groups, each consisting of four teams. Teams will battle through the group stage during the first three days of play, followed by a rest day, before entering the high-stakes knockout rounds to crown the junior world champions.

Hruthik started playing tennis at the age of six, motivated and inspired by his parents. His first coaches were Henry Praveen and Ramakrishna at the Trinity Challengers Tennis Academy in Habsiguda here.

“Hruthik, a student from NIOS, is fully focussed, disciplined and smart-minded from the beginning. His parents and coaches planned short-term goals for him from the beginning, and he achieved all of them,” said one of his support staff members.

The young talent has been mentored by Olympian and Asian Games medallist J. Vishnuvardhan since the age of 12, after Hruthik attained the No. 2 national ranking in the Under-12 category.

Some of Hruthik’s milestones include being the national Under-14 and Under-16 champion, winning the Asian Under-14 championship and claiming five Asian titles in the Under-16 category.

Interestingly, Hruthik is the only Indian player to have represented the country in the World Junior Finals in both the Under-14 and Under-16 age groups.

“My long-term goal is to be World No. 1, win Asian and Olympic medals, besides targeting Grand Slam titles,” said a confident Hruthik.