The Echuca-Moama resident travelled to Gippsland to take part in the 2025 Victorian Open Championships, where she walked away with some silverware for her troubles.
However, things didn’t start according to plan for the table tennis maestro.
Mallya entered in both the open women’s competition and the over-30s competition and, despite an early exit in the former, she went from strength to strength in the latter.
The championships draw the best players in the state from rural, regional and metropolitan areas and has a wide range of grades to suit players of all ages.
In the open women’s singles, there were six groups in the competition who played off against each other to then go on into the quarter-finals.
Mallya lost both of her matches in her group, falling to 14-year-old powerhouse Shrinika Hariprasad in four games, 11-4, 11-5, 10-12, 11-5, and 15-year-old Olympic hopeful Connie Psihogios in straight sets, 11-3, 11-1, 11-0.
This high-level competition in the open competition provided Mallya with the perfect warm-up for the over-30’s division.
In her first match in the over-30s division, Mallya, after dropping her first two sets, found momentum in the third set and ultimately rode that wave all the way to a comeback win against Kate Carmichael, 8-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-7, 14-12.
Looking particularly strong throughout her other two group matches, Mallya overcame Anushka Fernando in four sets, 11-7, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, and rolled through Michelle Bowd in straight sets, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4.
Mallya had all the momentum in the world coming into the semi-final and continued on the steady path, defeating Yoke-Ching Tan in four sets, 11-8, 2-11, 12-10, 11-8, before facing off against Carmichael once again in the big dance.
Despite two hotly contested sets, Mallya didn’t miss a trick in the final, defeating Carmichael 12-10, 11-4, 15-13 to be crowned Victorian champion.
Mallya was taken aback when she won, stating she didn’t anticipate walking away a champion.
"It was a great experience. I got to know many people over the weekend. I think the format was great,“ she said.
“I played six matches in two hours, which was good because it was quick, and I didn’t get much of a break so I could find rhythm.
“I was not expecting to win at all, I just went to have fun. It was just an event to attend to qualify for nationals.
“I didn’t realise what a big deal it was to win until after, when I had strangers come up to me and congratulate me.”
For Mallya, not only was winning a great component to the event, but making friends with fellow competitors gave her a sense of satisfaction and camaraderie.
“It was a lot of fun and I made some wonderful connections. We had such nice banter because all the women in my division are around my age,” she said.
“It was lovely to make new friends in my sport and was such a great event to be a part of, and I was lucky to walk away with a win, so that was nice.”
Looking ahead, Mallya said she was keen to head to the 2025 National Championships in July and was honoured to be provided the opportunity to represent Victoria.
“I am so excited to be heading to nationals and am proud to be able to wear the Team Victoria uniform,” she said.
“It’ll be a tough gig there, but I will give it my best shot and I am sure it’ll be a fun experience.”
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