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Time of India
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Time of India
How tech, training became two Ts of India's table tennis future
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. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You To Read in 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List 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). Papic t o C ostantini 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.
Time of India
20-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Rajasthan Table Tennis Association president Mukul Gupta demands action against TTFI secretary Kamlesh Mehta and Ranjeet Malik
Jaipur: All is not well in the Rajasthan table tennis fraternity. The intense fight between the two factions has put a break on the progress of sport in the region for the last couple of years. The president of the Rajasthan Table Tennis Association (RTTA) Mukul Gupta has alleged that the other faction - led by Ranjeet Malik -- is trying to create problems and hampering the game despite a proper elected body being formed in the elections held on February 11, 2023. "During the last elections, observers from Table Tennis Federation of India (Gulanan), Rajasthan State Sports Council (Bhiya Ram Choudhary) and Rajasthan Olympic Association (Arun Saraswat and Shankar Lal) witnessed the proceedings in Jodhpur under the supervision of election officer Mahesh Saini. However, despite the fair elections, we still did not get the affiliation letter from the RSSC," said Mukul Gupta while addressing a press conference here on Sunday. Mukul Gupta alleged that after the 2023 elections, Ranjeet Malik approached TTFI secretary Kamlesh Metha and formed another group which forced the national governing body of TT to withdraw the powers of the elected body. Thereafter, two teams of Rajasthan (TTFI 1 and TTFI 2) are participating in the Nationals. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like for Working Pros BITS Pilani Digital Apply Now "Ranjeet Malik joined hands with his friend Kamlesh Mehta for his personal gains and made a mockery of the elections held according to the constitution of the RTTA. It is a big conspiracy and ruining the game in the region. Paddlers of Rajasthan are suffering as they are not getting valid certificates from the TTFI. It not only affects their chances of representing the country but also not helping them secure jobs in the government or private sectors," alleged Jodhpur-based Mukul Gupta, who was elected as the RTTA president for a four-year tenure in February 2023. The Mukul Gupta-led RTTA has three demands to restore the game in the region and seeks urgent attention of the state government. "There should be a proper action against Kamlesh Mehta and Ranjeet Malik. We should get an affiliation letter from the RSSC as soon as possible. Mention of Rajasthan on the certificates of players who compete in the national-level tournaments," demanded Gupta. One of the RTTA vice-presidents and Jaipur District TT Association president Lalit Singh added that they approached state sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and RSSC chairman Neeraj K Pawan several times but did not get justice so far. "Sports minister said formation of an ad hoc body is the answer to this problem and asked the chairman to resolve the issue. We are ready to hear our oppositions' views in the meeting for the benefit of state players," said Lalit Singh.
Indian Express
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Indian Express
Father's foresight, TT robot behind Divyanshi taking down three Chinese on way to Asian title
It was during the Covid pandemic in 2020 that Divyanshi Bhowmick's father decided to bring a TT table home, hoping his daughter would take the interest in the sport she had shown at school to possibly something more significant. That has turned out to be a worthwhile investment as Divyanshi defeated three Chinese players on the way to winning India's first gold medal in 36 years at the Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships. India last won a gold medal at the Under-15 event in 1989, when the tournament was held in New Delhi. On Tuesday in Tashkent, the paddler from Kandivali in Mumbai defeated China's Zhu Qihi 4-2 in the final to continue her rapid rise in the sport. The gold medal comes a few months after Divyanshi was thrown at the deep end in Chennai, where she made her senior debut at the WTT Star Contender event at the age of 14. In the first round, she defeated World No.64 and Olympian Giorgia Piccolin of Italy. She has also won a doubles silver medal at the 2023 ITTF World Youth Championships, along with WTT Contender Youth titles at U13, U15 and U17 categories. 'It's a very important performance. She has beaten three Chinese players and the player whom she beat in the semifinals (Liu Ziling), had beaten her three times before,' says multiple-time former national champion Kamlesh Mehta, who is now the general secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). 'That player is very strong and also very comfortable with the style of play, the rubber that Bhowmick plays with. That itself speaks volume about her achievement.' Divyanshi's rise (she's ranked 3rd in the world in U15, 14th in U17 and 24th in U19) in the sport started during the lockdown when her father decided to bring a TT table home. Soon she was playing for 4-5 hours everyday with her sister and father. But at her first Nationals, Divyanshi lost early, prompting her father to try and find out what went wrong. He was told that it would take 3-4 years for his daughter to reach an elite level. 'When she lost in qualifying, I asked the coach how we could get better. I was told that it would take a long time and things don't move so fast. I couldn't digest this and took matters in my own hands,' says Rahul Bhowmick. Rahul, who is the regional CEO of ISS Global Forwarding, decided to bring a Power Pong Omega Robot home to help develop Divyanshi's game. 'One of the things that I noticed in the success of Chinese paddlers was their ball control. So, we used the robot to work on specific scenarios where she was having trouble. You can program the robot to a high-spin, high-loop setting and then hit a thousand of such balls in practice. The key was to repeat it time and again until she perfected it,' says Rahul. The very next year, Divyanshi would win the 2021 Nationals. She also benefited from not working full-time under one coach, but shuttling between three different ones to work on different aspects of her game. As if that wasn't enough, her father started sending her to international WTT events hoping that her growth would be accelerated in an environment which included the best players. When the age-group titles started coming, so did the call to be part of the Indian team in 2022. In 2023, the doubles silver at the World Youth Championship followed. 'When we first put her on the international circuit in 2022-23, we must have spent lakhs making her play six tournaments abroad. There were travel and equipment costs with no sponsors. In India, parents have to outlay a lot of funds initially till you become a player in the national set-up,' says Rahul. Late in 2024, Divyanshi was signed up by Dani Sports Foundation, who had been scouting her and some other youth table tennis players since their U13 days. 'A lot of times what happens in the Indian ecosystem is that they play a lot of junior events. At U15 and U19 level, they keep on playing youth events. Our idea is to get some exposure internationally in senior events as well. It's okay if you lose in the first round but understand the psyche of the elite players while you are still a growing youth star,' says Ekansh Gupta, CEO of Ultimate Table Tennis and an advisor at Dani Sports Foundation. At the Asian Youth Championships, that step up to the senior level seemed to have worked in the Indian's favour. Seeded second for the tournament, Divyanshi's crowning moment came when she defeated Liu in a seven-game thriller in the semifinal. Her father said that the win came after India's foreign coach Massimo Costantini strategized with them on how to take down the Chinese paddler. 'Massimo has helped her tremendously at the national camps. He adds value to her coaching. For this Asian Championship, he has been continuously practising with her, giving her inputs and settings for her matches,' adds Rahul.
