Shillong, April 17: In a major tragedy just ahead of the commencement of the 83rd Senior National and Inter-State table tennis championships at Shillong in Meghalaya, a young and talented paddler from Tamil Nadu lost his life while on his way to Shillong to participate at the national championships on Sunday afternoon.

The 83rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships is scheduled to be held at Shillong in Meghalaya from April 18, and will see participation of 38 men and 35 women teams.

Deenadayalan Vishwa (18-years-old) and three other Tamil Nadu players – R Santosh Kumar, D Kishore Kumar and S Abhinash Prasannaji – were on their way in a tourist taxi (Swift Desire bearing registration AS 25 CC 8413) from Guwahati Airport to Shillong on Sunday when their vehicle met with an accident at Shangbangla in Ri-Bhoi district at around 1:50 pm.

A 12-wheel truck (AP 16 TH 1393), which was on its way from Jowai to Guwahati, crossed the divider at Shangbangla on National Highway 6 from the opposite direction and hit the players’ taxi. After hitting the taxi, the truck fell into a 50-meter deep gorge.

Vishwa died on the way to Nongpoh Civil Hospital. The other three were rushed from Nongpoh to NEIGRIHMS at Shillong. They are in a stable condition and out of danger, doctors informed.

Vishwa was part of the Tamizhaga Table Tennis Association (TTTA) State men’s team.

Meanwhile, Vishwa’s father and other family members will travel to Nongpoh to collect his body on Monday.

Further, the driver of the tourist vehicle, Dipal Das, also succumbed to his injuries.

Police have registered case on the accident.

MTTA regret Vishwa’s demise

The Meghalaya Table Tennis Association (MTTA) has expressed its condolences on the sudden death of the Tamil Nadu paddler who was on his way to Shillong to take part in the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis Championship.

In a statement, MTTA said: “On behalf of the entire MTTA family, the association’s Vice-President Bruce P Marak and General Secretary Chiranjib Choudhury, expressed condolences on the demise of Vishwa, an extremely gifted and promising table tennis player. The teenager had won several junior, sub-junior and cadet titles in the country and abroad over a short but wonderful career and his demise is a huge blow to the sport in India. May his soul rest in peace.”

It also mentioned that two members of the MTTA are stationed in Nongpoh to ensure the completion of all formalities and will receive the family members at Guwahati Airport on Monday. The district administration of Ri-Bhoi is also facilitating the process of returning the body to Chennai.