Only 18 years old, alongside three colleagues, he was en route from Guwahati to Shillong to compete in the Senior National and Inter-State Championships.

At Shangbangla, a lorry travelling in the facing direction, ploughed through crash barriers and hit the car which plunged into a gorge.

According to the statement issued by the Table Tennis Federation of India, the driver died immediately. Deenadayalan, a student at Loyola College was pronounced dead by doctors on arrival at Nongpoh Civil Hospital.

Teammates – Ramesh Santosh Kumar, Abinash Prasannaji Srinivasan, Kishore Kumar – suffered severe injuries but are in a stable state.

A member of the Krishnaswamy Table Tennis Club in Anna Nagar, Deenadayalan had enjoyed national success at cadet and junior level. Notably, earlier this year in January, he won the under 19 boys’ singles title at the Dehra Dun National Ranking Tournament.

Scheduled to compete WTT Youth Contender Linz tournament later this month, Deenadayalan had received high praise from Sharath Kamal Achanta, the player who for approaching two decades has spearheaded Indian hopes.

The ITTF Group extends its sincere condolences to all members of the Deenadayalan family and the Table Tennis Federation of India.