Women’s champ paddler Frenaz gets Married

Hiten Shukla.

Gujarat state table tennis women’s champion Frenaz Chipia commenced her marital innings when she married Mumbai-based paddler Zubin Taraporewalla in a traditional Parsi wedding ceremony in Surat on Wednesday. The 28-year-old paddler, Zubin is employeed by CAG (Mumbai).

It was a typical Parsi wedding, with celebrations spread over three days. “The rituals started with Ring Ceremony on Tuesday followed by Haldi the next. Today was the big day. The wedding ceremony took place at 6.30pm, very much a Parsi style,” said Frenaz, who sounded excited and nervous as she began her new innings.

The 23-year-old Frenaz will continue to remain on the table tennis circuit as a player. “My in-laws very supportive and cool. They want me to continue playing TT,” said the defending women’s champion.

Frenaz and Zubin met for the first time at National School games in Mizoram. But it was in 2010 at the Baroda National Ranking when they came close.

“As we both belong to the same community (Parsi) it wasn’t difficult to convince our respective parents. Moreover, we gave each other time to decide and didn’t rush. We kept in touch and met regularly at national tournaments and even at the Parsi community meets. After a delibration we felt it was right time to get hitched,” said Zubin.

The wedding was attended by national and international players including Madhurika Patkar, Pooja Sahasrabuddhe and Ahika Mukherjee among others. Gujarat State Table Tennis Association honorary secretary Haresh Sangtani also arrived from Gandhidham to give blessings to the couple.