Sharath, Mouma high amid Indian low
NEW DELHI: Achanta Sharath Kamal, pushing 40, ran around the arena like a teenager. He had just defeated G Sathiyan, 29, to win a record 10th men’s singles title at the table tennis national championships in Shillong on Monday. Sharath is India’s best (world No 38) with Sathiyan a rung below.
Mouma Das, 38, is a five-time women’s champion. She lost in the final to Akula Sreeja, but had made a comeback after three years, and childbirth. It meant little that Mouma is world No 782 and there are 22 Indians higher in the ranking list. Manika Batra (world No 48), the Commonwealth Games champion who lost in the round of 16, tops that list.
It adds to the scrutiny on India’s younger players in the year of CWG and Asian Games where their selection would have helped gain experience for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“They are coming up but probably not at the pace and intensity we expect,” says S Raman, four-time national champion who is a Dronacharya-award
winning coach. “There are some young players like Manush (Shah), Manav (Thakkar), and some among women, but again they are not coming up at the same speed. Maybe they will take a little bit more time. This is always a challenge in every sport.”
Olympian Neha Aggarwal is more disappointed with the women. “I was a bit disappointed with the women. The youngsters have all they need to surpass the veterans but still have not been able to do so. All kudos to Mouma for her tenacity, but I am a bit disappointed with the juniors. It is not that they don’t have the skills, talent or ability. Look at Archana, Diya (Parag), Ayhika, they have done so well in fitness. But it is also about being smart and mature. They need to play more matches, high-pressure matches. TT is very physical but at the same time it is very, very tactical.”
Indian teams had a breakthrough 2018 with excellent results at the CWG and Asian Games under Massimo Constantini. But the Italian quit after that and India have not hired a replacement. Absence of a proper national coaching set up and regular camps in the last two years has also hurt them.
“Most players are finding their own way, managing their training, coaching. Top players like Sharath, Sathiyan and Manika can do that, but the younger lot would have definitely suffered,” says Raman.
To top it, the Table Tennis Federation of India is suspended and a Delhi high court-appointed Committee of Administrators run the federation.