‘Games a learning curve for Ghosh’

Karlsson added that Ghosh would only benefit from his time at London. “It can only be a positive that Soumyajit has qualified when he is just 19. What I have experienced is that compared to the World Championships,the Olympics are much harder. This is not because the competition is harder. It is just that the pressures are more. In your first Olympics,it is always hard to overcome such pressures. Now that Soumyajit is still maturing,he can get used to the feel of the Olympics. In his subsequent Olympics,he will be better prepared than ever,” he said.

Karlsson,himself a three time Olympian,said that Ghosh should take care not to be satisfied with just making an appearance. “Soumyajit must never be satisfied with just playing at the Olympics. He will be coming to Sweden after the Olympics to work with me and I will also discuss this with him. I’ve been telling Ghosh to never ever be satisfied with his performance and not to stop working,” he added.

The Swede emphasised on the aspects of the game which needed to be mastered for any table tennis player to be counted as among the greats. “There are four aspects of the game; one is the technical,the second is tactical,third is the mental and fourth is the physical. Ghosh is mentally very strong and he is able to utilise whatever skills he has very well. So tactically he is very good. Where he lacks is in his technique. This is one thing he will learn with experience,practice,fitness and hard work,” he said.

Karlsson also had words of praise for the younger set of table tennis platers the country,in particular Harmeet Desai and Abhishek Yadav. “Competition within the country is very important. You have four very good players in the junior ranks. If you can find four more and have intense competition between those eight players,it would make a huge difference,” Karlsson said,adding it was the lack of a competitive atmosphere which hampered the growth of Achanta Sharath Kamal.