Vivan Dave Wins Silver As Surat Teen Impresses in Mongolia
Surat Teenager Vivan Dave Makes His Mark on International Table Tennis Circuit
At 14, Surat table tennis player Vivan Rashesh Dave is already competing against some of the strongest young players on the international circuit. His recent run in Mongolia and Uzbekistan has added to a record that began when he first picked up a table tennis bat at the age of six.
Vivan Dave finished runner-up in the Under-15 Boys’ Singles at the WTT Youth Contender Ulaanbaatar 2026 in Mongolia in July. He reached the final after beating Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Al Taher 3-2 in the semi-final and Mongolia’s Batarigun Erdenetsogt 3-0 in the quarter-final. In the final, Taiwan’s Fan Yi Li defeated him 3-1.
The Ulaanbaatar tournament was held from July 14 to 17 and formed part of the 2026 WTT Youth Series. The International Table Tennis Federation calendar lists Ulaanbaatar and Tashkent among the youth events held in the region during July, giving young players several chances to compete internationally within a short period.
The result in Mongolia came after several years of competition in India. Vivan Dave moved through district- and state-level tournaments before winning the Under-15 individual title at the 2025 National Championship in Gandhidham, according to the information supplied for this report. He also won gold in the Under-15 team event and bronze in doubles at that championship.
The results helped him move into the No. 2 position in India in the Under-15 category, according to the supplied media note. At the national level, his form has continued into 2026. In August, Dave won the Under-17 boys’ title at the UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Kanpur. He beat Karnataka’s Atharva Navrange 11-8, 11-9, 11-4 in the deciding three games after losing the opening game 8-11 and dropping the fourth 9-11.
Winning an Under-17 national ranking event at 14 is significant in the context of his age. The tournament placed him against players from an older age group, while his main international record remains in the Under-15 category.
Vivan Dave’s international schedule in 2026 has also included WTT events in India. At the WTT Youth Contender in Vadodara in January, he and Naisha Rewaskar won the Under-15 mixed doubles title. The pair beat Reyansh Jalan and Tanishka Kalbhairav in the final. Before reaching that match, Dave and Rewaskar had defeated the top-seeded combination of Aditya Das and Ankolika Chakraborty 23-21 in the deciding game of their semi-final.
The experience has taken Dave well beyond Gujarat. He now trains in Hyderabad, where he stays in a hostel while continuing his Grade IX studies and receiving professional table tennis coaching.
For a young player travelling to overseas competitions, the cost can be a practical barrier. Air travel, accommodation, entry fees and local transport can add considerably to the cost of a tournament trip. The media note says financial support from Adani Hazira Port Limited, or AHPL, helped Dave take part in international WTT tournaments.
AHPL is part of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited and operates Hazira Port in Surat. APSEZ’s latest operational information lists Hazira among its ports on Gujarat’s west coast and describes the facility as a multi-product port handling containers, dry bulk, liquids, automobiles and other cargo.
For Vivan Dave, the value of overseas competition goes beyond the result on the scoreboard. International youth tournaments bring together players from several countries and give competitors matches against styles they may not regularly face in domestic events. WTT events also feed into the international youth ranking system, with the ITTF adding the Ulaanbaatar tournament to its 2026 youth rankings.
There is one point in the supplied media note that needs clarification. It states that Dave followed his silver medal in Mongolia with a bronze in Tashkent. Public match records for the WTT Youth Contender Tashkent II 2026 show Dave competing in the Under-15 Boys’ Singles and reaching the last 16. He defeated Iraq’s Andya Mohammed 3-1 in the last 32 before losing 0-3 to fellow Indian player Prateek Tulsani. The same records also show Dave and Sri Saanvi Kamarapu competing in the Under-15 mixed doubles, where they reached the last 16. A bronze medal for Dave in Tashkent could therefore not be independently confirmed from the available match records.
The confirmed silver in Ulaanbaatar and his recent Under-17 national title still give Dave a strong competitive record at a young age. His next stage will involve balancing schoolwork with the demands of regular training, national ranking events and international travel.
For Surat, his progress also shows the level that a young player can reach when local talent gets access to regular coaching and the chance to compete outside the country. Dave began with the sport at six. At 14, he is already testing himself against players from across Asia and building experience that could shape the next stage of his career.