(from Bowmar Sports and Chirag Pradhan)
Recently, we had opportunity to connect with thirteen year old Chirag Pradhan, a Bay Area phenom who won both the U15 and U13 Singles titles at this year’s US National Championships.
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How young were you when you started playing, and how quickly did you start having success?
I started table tennis around the age of 8, playing in the basement of my house with my dad and a robot. At that time, I just played for fun and enjoyed the game. After a few months, I started going to a club in Minnesota — a little far from home, but the closest one available. I took private lessons with Coach Mitch, a Paralympic gold medalist, going to the club about once a week and also playing in a local league nearby.
The following year, I moved to another club much farther away, where I was coached by Coach Qi Wei, who helped me improve a lot. That same year, I started playing USATT tournaments. My first was in Westchester, New York, in 2022 — I was 9 years old and rated 1300 at the time. It was a great experience, since I’d never played in a tournament before, and it motivated me to play more local tournaments afterward. Within six months, I reached 1600.
In early 2023, I played my first National Trials, held in North Carolina. I was very excited going in and couldn’t wait to play. Even though I lost in the group stages of both U11 and U13, I was still happy to have competed against the top players in the country. After that tournament, I set my sights on making the national team.
In June 2023, my family moved to California — the moment that changed my life forever. I had to adapt to a new environment, meet new people, and adjust to a much higher level of competition. I joined TTA, one of the biggest clubs in the US, starting out at around 1700 and feeling overwhelmed by how many kids trained there. My first coach at TTA was Coach Pu, who helped me progress quickly — within a month or two I hit 1900, which I was really proud of. I kept working hard and reached 2000 by the end of 2023.
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Things changed for you in 2024 – talk through those more recent successes.
At the start of 2024, I had my Junior Part 1 Trials in Monroe, Louisiana. I could barely sleep during the tournament. I went into the U13 event with no expectations and surprisingly finished top 4 — I couldn’t believe it. In U11, I went undefeated and took first place, boosting my rating to 2200.
Three months later, I played my first WTT event and won both U11 and U13. Around the same time, I competed in my second National Trials and officially made the national team, finishing No. 1 in U11 and No. 5 in U13.
In August, I played in my first Pan American Championships (U11 and U13) in the Dominican Republic, winning U11 and earning selection for World Hopes. Two months later, I competed at World Hopes, where players from around the world under age 12 gathered to compete. I finished 7th out of 20 — an incredible experience playing against some of the best young players in the world. It was, without question, one of the most memorable years of my career so far.
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How about the last year or two? Give us an update on your recent wins.
This past year, I got sponsored by Butterfly, which meant a lot to me since it’s my favorite table tennis company. I also finished the season ranked No. 1 in U13 and No. 5 in U15 nationally.
In September, I represented the USA at the Pan American Championships (U13) in Guatemala and won the title again — a result I was really proud of. The following month, I played World Hopes in England and finished 4th, an improvement over the year before. Right after that, I competed in a WTT event in Dubai and finished 2nd — my first trophy at a WTT outside the US.
This year, I won U15 at a WTT event in San Francisco, then finished 2nd in both U13 and U15 at the Junior Part 1 Trials. After that, I trained in Japan, where the quality of coaching and competition gave me a completely different experience and helped me improve significantly. In April, I competed in my Part 2 Junior Trials, finishing first in U13 and second in U15.
My journey has had plenty of ups and downs, but I’m grateful for all the good that’s come from it. A big thank you to my parents, coaches, and friends for supporting me throughout, and to Butterfly for backing me through every competition.
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Thanks for spending some time with us, Chirag. We look forward to watching you compete.
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