How tech, training became two Ts of India's table tennis future

Time of India

3 days ago

Divyanshi Bhowmick recently fought off stiff competition from Asian powerhouses in Tashkent to bring home Youth TT gold medal after 36 years.
A blink of an eye is too long in competitive table tennis. Some would say that's also about as long as India has managed to capture international attention with its performances at the sport's biggest arenas.
So far. Because the country is busy now basking in the warm glow of potential. Its newfound optimism is thanks to a new breed of youngsters who achieved the near-unthinkable with a four-medal showing at the recent Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. Dramatic as the tale is, it was not scripted overnight.
For decades, table tennis in India has lived in the shadows -- lacking structure, exposure, and ambition.
That, though, has changed over the last decade. With foreign coaches, robot-fed training drills and talent spotted early and nurtured scientifically, Indian table tennis has quietly orchestrated a revolution that spans dusty corners of state-run sports hostels and gleaming academies. It features not only cutting edge technology but also a dose of Indian ingenuity.
And the results are showing.
Young and ambitious
Take 14-year-old Divyanshi Bhowmick, the newly crowned Asian champion in the Under-15 category.
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Undo
Her training includes sparring with robots that can keep throwing all kinds of balls tirelessly at a player. That ensured she was ready for everything that came her way in Tashkent. She is just one of the youngsters that made the 29th Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships a watershed moment for India. Apart from Divyanshi's gold, India returned with a silver and two bronzes from Tashkent.
If Asian titles, Commonwealth medals, and global respect are now part of the vocabulary, it's thanks to the vision and resilience of tireless coaches and a generation that dares to believe.
Add to that grassroots dreams and bold reforms and you have a posse of paddlers making waves on the youth circuit. Ankur Bhattacharjee is ranked world No.3 in the U-19 boys' category. He teamed up with Taneesha Kotecha for a U-19 mixed doubles bronze in Tashkent.
Then there are the likes of Syndrela Das, PB Abhinandh, Sudhanshu Maini, and Sayali Wani.
The juniors are walking on a new path paved by seniors like Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah, Payas Jain, Snehit Suravajjula, Harmeet Desai (among men); and Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Diya Chitale, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Ayhika Mukherjee (among women).
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Among the clear game changers for Indian table tennis is the injection of high-calibre technical coaching, something the country has lacked exposure to historically. The transformation began when the national TT body (TTFI) partnered with foreign coaches from countries like China, South Korea and Germany. In 2018, the appointment of Dejan Papic, a Serbian coach with stints in North America and Europe, marked a shift in mindset.
His scientific approach to physical conditioning, tactical discipline, and long-term planning became a blueprint.
Then came the Italian Massimo Costantini. His focus on mental conditioning, tactical flexibility, and international best practices helped bridge the gap between India and the world's best. Serving his third stint as national coach, Costantini has emphasised an individualised coaching model since his return in 2024.
His methods include biomechanical analysis to optimise stroke efficiency and mental conditioning to handle high-pressure matches.
'Massimo understands the Indian system really well. We've had some great results under him and I hope that we can do even better,' says Ayhika Mukherjee, who won a historic bronze in women's doubles with Sutirtha Mukherjee at the 2022 Asian Games.
Local knowledge
A notable innovation involves hybridisation.
Instead of copying the Chinese or European style wholesale, Indian coaches are aiming for a blend that brings out homegrown instinct. Players learn aggressive forehand loops and short-pip blocks, but also work on Indian-style wristy placements and deceptive spins.
Massimo, too, has devoted attention to mastering spin, a hallmark of elite table tennis. Indian players, right from youth to the senior level, have developed versatile spin techniques, such as heavy topspin loops and defensive chops.
The products Costantini is looking to turn into polished match-winners are increasingly getting their start at grassroots academies that have mushroomed around the country, many backed by former players. Stalwarts like Soumyadeep Roy, Raman Subramaniam, Sourav Chakraborty and Jay Modak have started nurturing batches of kids. So, it's not surprising to see Indian paddlers in their early teens who already have 5-6 years of structured, competitive experience under their belt.
Investments at the grassroots level have also democratised access to advanced training. The Khelo India programme, backed by Sports Authority of India (SAI), has established modern training centres with high-tech equipment. Academies in several states use video analysis and ball-tracking systems (see box) to nurture talents like Divyanshi, whose 2025 Asian Youth title run was supported by SAI-funded training.
Prime-time push
Ask players and they might say that the most transformative force was the launch of the 'Ultimate Table Tennis' (UTT) league in 2017. Modelled after cricket's IPL, UTT brought together Indian and international stars in a franchise-based format. Matches are broadcast live to millions, giving Indian players, especially the younger crop, a golden opportunity to compete against world-class players on home soil.
'Just check our performances after the league started. Since then, we have won a bagful of medals at the Commonwealth Games, in 2018 as well as 2022. Our performance at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics was quite commendable, too,' said coach Sachin Shetty.
'With events like UTT, we get the exposure of staying, training and playing with or against top international stars. That has helped us a lot in ensuring that we stay almost, or as far as possible, on a par with the foreign players,' said Diya Chitale, who won mixed doubles gold at the 2025 WTT Contender event in Tunisia.
The exposure is not only on TV but on the international circuit, too. Gone are the days when Indian youths played only domestic tournaments. Today, the calendar is bursting with international opportunities. That means players don't fear foreign styles anymore and learn to adapt -- playing a chopper from Korea one week and a topspin-heavy Swede the next. These experiences are turning rookies into seasoned performers by a young age.
Every revolution needs faces, and India has its TT icons. If Achanta Sharath Kamal, a record-breaking multiple Commonwealth Games gold medallist, has inspired a generation, the emergence of the younger Sathiyan Gnanasekaran has sparked interest among the social media-savvy Gen Z. On the other hand, Manika Batra, with her historic 2018 Commonwealth Games gold, and bronze at the Asian Games the same year, has redefined what women's table tennis can look like – fearless, flamboyant, and global.