UTT alone can’t transform India: Engel
Having a month long international league is indeed a boost for Indian table tennis but it isn’t enough to make the country a powerhouse in the sport, believes former India coach Peter Engel.
Engel is coaching RPSG Mavericks in the inaugural Ultimate Table Tennis league and was associated with the India team till the 2014 Asian Games.
“The organisation of the league is world class and even better than what we have back in Europe. It just needs to take place year after year to make a big impact,” Engel was quoted as saying on Friday.
“However, a league cannot fix all your problems. I said even during the time I was the India coach, you need a big pool of youngsters training in India and overseas.
“I have two young players Diya and Archana Kamath under me back in Germany. Your senior players are already doing well but unless budding talent get required exposure, results at world events won’t come,” said the German.
Three men’s players, Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai and Soumyajit Ghosh, are in the top 100 of the world rankings, showing the senior players are competing against the best in the business.
“But unless your junior and sub-junior players get top class training, a pool of world class players will not be created for the future,” Engel added.