BY USA ARMENIAN LIFE SPORTS EDITOR
Shant Akoubian is 15 years old professional table tennis player. He started his passion for table tennis at the age of 7 and after many years of practice, discipline and tournaments Shant is now a National Olympics Medalist for Mexico. Shant is the first Armenian who played in the Mexican Olympics where he achieved second place in the sub 15 group division in May 2025. Last July Shant traveled to Coahuila Mexico to continue with his trainings and participation in different category levels. Soon after that he was in Tijuana training for two weeks and then he left to Monterrey Mexico with his Baja team for the National Summer Championship in which he succeeded with another medal. During the process to qualify for the Mexican Olympics, he had to compete in several tournaments to make it into the State of Baja California team where he got 1st place. Then he had to compete in the Macro Regionals with other states of Mexico where only the winners were qualified to go the Olympics. “As Shant’s coach for the past 8 years. I have watched Shant grow into a remarkably versatile player. At the age of 15, Shant demonstrated strength, agility, and talent needed to excel in table tennis. His dedication and commitment to table tennis are truly exceptional, and his attitude both in training and competition reflect a caliber of high-level player. I am proud to see him representing Grace Lin TTC and Team Mexico” said Shant’s coach Grace Linn to USA Armenian Life Sports Editor. She concluded: “Looking ahead, I hope Shant competes in more international tournaments to grow into much more experienced player. I also believe the continued development of his service and more fluid adaptive playing style will elevate his level higher.”
Shant’s trajectory from a young boy novice player to a professional hasn’t been that easy. Here’s what his parents Krikor and Azniv had to say about Shant’s journey: “Since Shant was a little kid we noticed he had a talent with his hands, he played the piano and loves to draw, since his dad used to play table tennis when he was a teen he took Shant to a practice one day and that was enough for us to realize his natural talent on this sport.” Both of his parents played an important role in helping Shant through his journey but specifically his dad Krikor because after long day of work he would come home and drive an hour to take Shant to his club so he could train.
Shant trains 4 to 5 times a week about 3 to 4 hours each time coming home late around 11:00PM to continue with his school assignments letting him keep over 4.10 GPA and he is a proud Ferrahian High School Student. His teachers, coaches and school principal have been a great support for Shant as well.
His grandparents Mesrob and Lena Petrosian have been a great support on Shant’s success because they would also take him to the tournaments and trainings when the parents could not, besides that they would encourage him to do better and to be stronger as this sport requires a lot of strength physically and mentally.
As any other sport its not only the talent what makes you the best but also many hours of hard training, discipline, sacrifices and the mindset. Shant is well known in the Armenian table tennis community where he got the nick name of “Fire on the table” because of his speed and agility. Shant participated in the Homenetmen Navasartian games this July and got 1st place in the adult category. This past summer Shant also participated in the U.S. National Table Tennis Championship and got 3rd place U-3100 doubles. Shant is a proud young Armenian and everywhere he goes he gets recognized as one of the top players in his age category, therefore making his parents and coaches very proud. Besides being a top professional athlete Shant is also an excellent student currently attending Ferrahian High School in Encino, California.