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After living too much in the shadows of cricket, in terms of popularity and public craze, players from other sporting disciplines too are now becoming icons in their own way.
Who would have given a chance to Kabaddi Players, who are now signing multi-crore contracts and have a lifestyle a cricketer has, just a few years ago.
Or the countless table tennis players, who till today regret the kind of opportunities available to the current crop of youngsters — bolder, brasher, and more aggressive and taking on and beating the best in the business — the World Dominating Chinese in China, a feat achieved by the two young Mukherjee girls (Sutirtha and Ahikya) from Kolkata who had not so long ago thrashed the Chinese pair, the Number Two ranked pair in the world, Meng Chen and Wang Yidi, in the quarter finals of the 2022 Asian Games. This paved the way for the first ever women’s doubles medal in Table Tennis in Asian Games.
Yes, consider the Mukherjee girls, or the India’s mainstay Mannika Batra, aggressive Sreeja Akula from the ladies contingent and the likes of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, or Sarath Kamal (who recently announced retirement from the game after three decades of competitive game): they are all beaters of the World Champions, on their day.
How did this transformation of the game and players from the country take place? In arguably the fastest ball game which does not offer even a fraction of a second’s time for reaction, it is the strongest, the fittest, the fastest and the most technically sound and with excellent footwork who can hope to win the day.
Not an easy task in a game dominated by the Chinese and the Europeans, considering the fact that Indians were found wanting in some or the other aspects of the game’s exacting requirements not so long ago.
To understand the transformation of the Indian Team, that is now taking on the world and at times challenging and pushing the world champions to their limits, News24online caught up with Indian Table Tennis National Coach, Saurav Chakraborty, for an exclusive interview even as he was waiting to catch a flight to the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires on Saturday. He is shepherding the Indian contingent to participate in the WTT Contender Buenos Aires 2025 that includes Mannika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ahikya Mukherjee, Sathiyan Gyanasekaran, among others. The tournament will be held from July 22 to July 27.
Chakraborty is himself a former member of the Indian Table Tennis team, and a Commonwealth Games and Championships Medal winner.
“We are having a great chance for improvement in performance as all players in the team have upgraded their ranks in the global rankings. Sathiyan and Yashashwini and all. Rest of the players are doing well, we have very good expectations in this outing too,” the Indian TT Coach said in the telephonic interview from the Delhi airport.
“We are hoping for medals to come,” he said.
In the last Asian Championships we have beaten Korea, in the Womens sections, and in Womens section for the first time they have won an Asian Championship doubles medal beating the highly ranked pair —at the Kazakhstan Asian Championship. Our girls have also beaten the Chinese pair in China, too, in a different tournament.
“China is the biggest competitor, but in men’s and in women’s we are getting real close to the competition,” he said ascribing the reason to the transformation in the facilities and money given to the players and the dynamic and pro-player activities of the TT Federation of India led by former national champion and icon, Kamlesh Mehta.
“In our times, when we were younger, the scope and opportunities present now for players were missing. But that’s not a regret, but we are grateful that now we are shaping the youngsters to become world beaters, and in this I see my success, thanks to the opportunities given by the sporting authorities, Federation, SAI and others,” Chakraborty said.
Yes, Table Tennis is a game of lightning reflexes, precision, and one that needs unyielding concentration. It is a battle of inches and milliseconds. From being limited to school common rooms and community centres, the sport has now made a niche for itself on the international map—thanks to the grit of its players and the unassuming strength of men like Saurav Chakraborty, for moulding the men and women into champion-material.
Chakraborty told News24 that today the players have plenty of opportunities to grow, with plenty of facilities when it came to coaches, stadiums, equipment, trainers and now even access high technology and AI that have combined the scope and potential of training and help in preparing the champions of today and tomorrow.
“We’re no longer just participating—we’re competing,” and putting it past the top players from Germany, Japan and China. But it hasn’t come without discipline, sacrifice, and with having a long-term vision,” he said.
Today Manika Batra, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, and Sharath Kamal are counted among one of the most successful stars because of their showing in the stadiums across the globe. But what has helped this transformation, Chakraborty says, “is the whole new package —technique, fitness, diet, and above all, mental conditioning.”
The use of technology is what makes this coaching and training more efficient and pinpointed to iron out the mistakes in each and every player, his or her actions, and or even toughen their mental condition.
“Nowadays, a lot of analytical work takes place. Each stroke, each move, even the routines of rivals gets analysed. Winning at Table Tennis is all about finding those small advantages,” which is what the coach and trainers combine to get their wards equipped with.
A national player himself, Chakraborty knows what he is talking about when he says, “Table Tennis is all about speed, but success in it comes slow—brick by brick, paddle by paddle.”
India is catching up, and sometimes even putting it past a few world champion athletes even in Table Tennis, but it needs many Dronacharyas like Chakraborty and his ilk.
The country’s long table tennis rally has begun, with topspin drives from our players catching the higher ranked opponents on the wrong foot.
Also Read: 12 Years Of Gattu: What Happened To Brilliant Child Actor Mohammad Samad?
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