In school and elsewhere, not many know that P. B. Abhinandh and M. Ananya, who are among the top table tennis players in the country in their age categories, are siblings. Abhinandh, who is ranked number one in Under-17 and number two in Under-19 in India. Abhinandh’s sister Ananya is number one in the State in U-15 and U-17 and number 2 in India in the U-15 category. It is not often that you see a brother-sister duo being accomplished in the same sport. “During my table tennis match, she gives me plenty of advice and whenever she plays, I see her matches and share my views about them,” says Abhinandh. Ananya, a class IX student of Sankara Senior Secondary School in Adyar, is studious while Abhinandh is in class XII pursuing education through the open schooling. “Our initials are also different. While my sister takes her initial from my father’s name (Muralidharan) I take my initials from my grandfather’s name, Pradhivadhi Bhayankaram (Narasimhan),” says Abhinandh. This month, the 14-year-old travelled abroad after nearly two years. She took part in WTT Youth Contender in Berlin and Czech Republic and in the Czech event, she won a bronze medal. “I was training for a while to strengthen my technique. I felt happy reaching the last four, beating few players from the Asian countries on the way,” she says. Early this month, Abhinandh achieved International glory when he bagged the gold medal in the boys U-17 category of the WTT Youth Contender in Berlin and finished runner-up in the boys U-19 category of the WTT Youth Contender in Havirov. They were both coached by Subin Kumar at Chennai Achievers TT Academy. Both swear by their coach. “Subin sir has been coaching me since I was five. He has played a huge role in my life as well as in my sister’s. Without his mentoring, we could not have achieved so much,” says Abhinandh. Both are ambitious and hard working and want to scale the utmost height in table tennis. Abhinandh wants to become India’s No.1 in the men’s section and is keen to win a medal at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Ananya wants to perform better this year, which will be her first year in the women’s section at the National level. “For a start, I want to make an impression by beating a few top-ranked paddlers,” she says. There is no doubt Abhinandh and Ananya, supported by their parents Muralidharan and Shanthi Muralidharan, will continue to make waves at the National and International circuit while supporting each other’s career.