In 1973, the legendary Manjit Singh Dua travelled around three days in train, from Delhi to Madras, to compete in the national table tennis championships. His determination, however, made light of his grime-encrusted journey바카라he won the first of his three national singles titles. That was how things were for sporting stars of yore. If Dua were playing today, he would have made the journey in under three hours, in airline comfort. Revealingly, Dua, who won his titles between 1973 and 1979, plays a crucial role in making things easier for today바카라s players.
His efforts have borne fruit바카라the standard of Indian table tennis has improved enormously. Today, there are two Indians in the top 50 of men바카라s rankings of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)바카라Achanta Sharath Kamal (43rd) and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan (46th)바카라while the men바카라s team is ranked a creditable 11th. In the women바카라s category, Manika Batra (69th) and Mouma Das (117th) have the best ranks; the team is ranked 24th.
The image of the sport in the country got a humongous fillip after the teams바카라 extraordinary performance at the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast, where India won an unprecedented eight TT medals, including Manika바카라s epoch-making gold in women바카라s singles and two more in the men바카라s and women바카라s categories. Continuing their golden CWG roll, the men바카라s team finished 13th바카라up from 25th in 2016바카라at the World Team Championship this April though, with Indians still punch-drunk with the CWG exploits, the players didn바카라t get enough kudos for that.
바카라Before the CWG, they didn바카라t think there was so much scope in TT. But the CWG, especially my gold medal, was a big thing as it hadn바카라t happened earlier. In 2006 CWG Sharath Kamal bhaiya had won gold medals [men바카라s singles and men바카라s team]. Now, people바카라s perception has changed; they are following TT like they follow cricket and badminton. And people know us. That is great,바카라 Manika tells Outlook.
A large chunk of credit for India바카라s recent successes goes to Manika, eight-time national champion Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan, Soumyajit Ghosh, Mouma, and Poulomi Ghatak, among others. If one marker of sporting health is a talented, speedily improving second rung, then Indian TT is in its pinkest. It is led by under-18 world No. 2 Manav Vikash Thakkar, who in February became the first Indian paddler to be ranked No 1. Also perched for top flight are four colts in the world바카라s top 50바카라Manush Utpalbhai Shah (25th), Snehit Suravajjula (26th), Jeet Chandra (36th) and Parth Virmani (42nd).
Kamal, 35, sums up the remarkable transformation. 바카라Since the Olympic qualification, TT players entered the government바카라s Target Olympic Podium Scheme, with that the funds started coming in. With the enhanced budget we could have training camps all over the world바카라in China, Germany, while the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) had better planning. Then, Italian Massimo Costantini returned to India after six years as chief coach,바카라 Kamal tells Outlook from the US, where he is holidaying.
The engine room of Indian TT바카라s turnaround is tended by four players바카라Kamal, Soumyajit, Manika and Mouma바카라who qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Never before have so many players made it to a single Games, though they failed to cut through the thicket of the world바카라s best. Then, in August that year, the TTFI reappointed Costantini, whose earlier tenure was in 2009-10, when India won five medals at the 2010 Delhi CWG.
The appointment of Costantini was amongst the necessary factors that helped kindle the TT revolution. Today바카라s happy situation has several elements바카라there is no dearth of funds; players get regular foreign tours; they are competing/sparring with top international players; training camps are held regularly; government/federation patronage is not conditional and private entities like Olympic Gold Quest are managing/sponsoring players. These combine to make table tennis a sport worth investing in, worth watching, and worth pinning hopes on, including that elusive Olympic medal. Ex-national coach Bhawani Mukherjee has seen the transformation. 바카라India바카라s performance has been improving.... But Manika and other women players should also go to Europe for exposure, like the men,바카라 stresses the man with 40 years바카라 experience.
Last year, a private entity, 11Sports, entered a 10-year partnership with TTFI to develop the sport. The company organised Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), a franchise-based league that brought some prominent foreign players to India, providing crucial exposure to home players. It also staged ITTF World Tour-India Open, another commendable effort.
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai (right) of India play Malaysia in the men바카라s quater-finals at the CWG in Gold Coast
Kamlesh Mehta, an eight-time national singles champion and a director with 11Sports, puts the foreign exposure to players as a crucial aspect바카라Sharath was the first among the present generation to play in a foreign league 14 years ago. 바카라More players, often from a young age, have been playing in the European circuit since 2010, some on their own expense, along with the TTFI바카라s openness to allow them to go abroad,바카라 Mehta tells Outlook.
Dua, the first Indian player in the German Bundesliga as a pro in 1981, appreciates the SAI바카라s contribution. 바카라It is helping with trainers and physiotherapists and masseurs. As a national selector, I am part of devising programmes, and ensure that they are implemented. I also give full credit to Costantini, against whom I played in the 바카라golden days바카라,바카라 he says.
In the TTFI executive committee, Dua has the company of former players like twice national women바카라s champion Mantu Ghosh, who are contributing to the game in their second innings. Mantu, who also coaches in Siliguri, says that players바카라 outlook has undergone a change. 바카라Today, our kids play fearlessly. They don바카라t care if they are facing a Chinese or a Japanese opponent. This change has come about because of constant foreign exposure,바카라 she emphasises. Former players who have turned to coaching, says Mantu, contribute significantly to the TT renaissance.
Along with role models celebrated in a media that has whittled distances down, table tennis is spreading across the map, unrestricted to pockets like Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai. 바카라It바카라s balanced now. Earlier, it was like if you are coming from 바카라this바카라 state, you would be good. Knowledge and tradition used to stay with a particular city or club. Now, because of globalisation, improvement and awareness, there is development all over the country,바카라 points out Kamal.
But along with unfettered joy at an efflorescence, blemishes have to be noted too. Like poor accessibility of stadiums. Dua rues the rising stadium rent in Delhi. 바카라In recent years, organising tournaments at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Talkatora Stadium or Thyagraj Stadium has become too expensive. From Rs 50,000 for three days it has risen to Rs 3 lakh-Rs 4 lakh.바카라
Under the brightness of the CWG success lurks another question: When will India open its medal account at the Asian Games, where the Chinese and Japanese dominate? 바카라I will not make a commitment, but I will give my best to bring a medal at the Asiad,바카라 says Manika, who impressed all with her game바카라immaculate placement on the table, tactical nous and a teutonic grit.
And when does she see India winning an Olympic medal? 바카라Everyone dreams of winning an Olympic medal. It바카라s my dream. I cannot surely say, but we will try our best in 2024,바카라 says the fan of Chelsea football club. Kamal, too, is optimistic. 바카라Getting a medal at the Olympics is a process. It will take its time, but it is possible. By 2024 or 2028, I think it is possible in the team event.바카라 The onus now lies on the vanguard바카라Kamal, Manika, Mouma...for in ardent dreams begin responsibilities.
