Teenage sensation Noorani shooting for the stars
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Reading Time: 3min | Fri. 06.10.23. | 16:43
He was crowned the Sikh Union Sports person of the year award 2022/23 awarded in June 2023.
Ahmed Adnaan Noorani has a natural grasp on speed and technique and it is no-wonder that at the age 13 everyone that watches him play agrees that he is destined for greatness.
This is a trend he picked up at a young age. His meteoric rise through the ranks wasn't due to luck, it was blood, sweat and tears all the way.
The youngest player in the just-concluded Kenya Table Tennis Aassociation (KTTA) seniors/juniors face-off championship, Noorani has proved a massive talent readying to take the world by storm.
He was a joy to watch as the national face-off at Goan Institute Nairobi unfolded two weeks ago. The event marked 50 years for Kenya in the World Table Tennis Championship; where top ranked juniors took on their senior counterparts in a round robin shootout.
With an apparent insatiable appetite for success, Noorani candidly admits that table tennis is a mentally challenging sport.
The soft-spoken player reveals that the sport may look easy depending on which side of the fence you are standing, but singles out the ping-pong game of bats and balls as one of the fastest sports out there which stretches players to their limits.
"My coaches are my inspirations especially Fahd Daim, Adam Pema and my dad Kamran,” he offers.
With dedication and hard work, he aspires to achieve several milestones in the next 5 years. His aspirations revolve around rising through the ranks in national and international ranking.
“Competing in major tournaments like Olympics and World Championships, improving my skills and techniques and above all becoming an inspiration to others are some of the facets of the game I look forward to time and time again," he went on.
Ahmed's most memorable match was his 3-2 loss to an African seeded player from South Africa Ruan Scholtz.
"Even though I lost, having taken two games from the South African gave me the much-needed confidence to work harder, but sky is the limit."
The teenager started playing TT in 2019 just before Covid-19 happened.
He qualified for the National Trials in March 2022 in the Juniors U21 Category at position 6 having tied with position 4 and 5 on points.
Ahmed then represented Kenya in Tunisia at the prestigious ITTF-Africa Youth championship from 21-27 July 2022.
Achievements
He graced the NTTA Aga Khan Open championship 2021 and the Sikh Union Monthly table tennis championship 2022, which he has been a 5-time winner in a row.
He was crowned the Sikh Union Sports person of the year award 2022/23 awarded in June 2023.
He is also the Nasserpuria Memon Jamat Nairobi champion 2022 and the Nasserpuria Memon Jamat Alamy Milan (global community event) champion December 2022.
The youngster is also the Festival of Friendship champion.
Factfile
Name: Ahmed Adnaan Noorani
DOB: 28.11.2009
School: Bellevue School
Class: Standard 8
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