Junior of the Month: Auria Malek

Auria recently made the USA National Junior Team, and at the USA Team Trials pulled off a number of upsets. He is currently #4 in the U.S. in Under 18 boys. He skipped 8th grade, and is now in his freshman year of college at the University of Santa Clara, studying Engineering.

At what age did you start playing Table Tennis?
At the age of 8.

What or who got you started in the sport?
My father.

Who are your former coaches? Current coaches?
For the first half of my career I was coached by Valerie Sarcosov. Currently Dennis Davis coaches me.

What drives you to keep training and why are those motivational factors important to you?
The thought of possibly being a National Team Member drives me to train. And that’s important to me because I would like to live my dream of playing in the highest level competitions.

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