By Caden Helmers
A casual game of table tennis in the family garage in Monash kicked off a journey that has taken Rohan Dhooria around the globe.
Now he is back where it all began to defend his ACT Open title with a $1000 prizemoney injection set to heighten the level of competition as Table Tennis ACT hosts the ACT Open at the Tuggeranong Archery Centre this weekend.
Canberra table tennis player Rohan Dhooria is aiming high.
Table tennis has taken the 18-year-old university student as far as Sweden, South Africa, Fiji, Hong Kong, Italy, Thailand, China and Tonga.
Now Dhooria has set his sights on winning the ACT Open and then claiming a spot in the World Cup - but first he will have to shore up a place in Australia's top two for an Oceania Cup berth.
He believes he can, and another chance at glory on the world stage would mean Dhooria has come a long way since betting he could beat his father in a bid to get back on his confiscated laptop.
"I used to play in the garage with my dad. I started enjoying the sport and I found playing with my dad was not as fun anymore because I was beating him quite easily," Dhooria said.
"I came to the ACT Club in Kingston and I started competing in divisions. I decided I loved table tennis and I loved competing, and I started playing in state competitions and national competitions.
"I went through the ranks, made it into the top four, won my first under 15 national title, and then I made the national team. It just kept going from there and now I play for Australia.
"I won the ACT Open last year, and this year they put up $1000 prize money, so there’s a lot more stronger competitors coming this year. A lot of players from NSW and Victoria are coming who are quite strong and are on the Australian national team. It will be a strong competition."
Canberra product Rachael Wang is tipped to give the women's draw a shake in an Open tournament featuring Commonwealth Games para gold medallist Melissa Tapper.
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