‘Need to improve coaching standards’

Table tennis is played by nearly 200 countries as compared to other sports,while most other sports are popular in only about 35 countries. I am not making an excuse but the competition levels are very high. Plus,its a sport dominated by Asian countries so the standard at Guangzhou was very high. We are behind these top four-five countries — China,Japan,Korea—¿ but in the rankings it comes out as a huge difference. I would say we need to improve the standard of the game.

But why is there only a lone Sharath Kamal at the top? Why can’t we have a pool of players in table tennis doing well consistently?

Sharath got the right break at the right time. It is not that others are not trying to play abroad but they’ll get noticed once they win something big. And if there isn’t any coach traveling with them to analyse their game and mistakes,how will they improve?

Plus developing a pool system doesn’t work here. We don’t want some players to become complacent or others to feel left out of top-level training. And if you work hard and try to develop the skills of only 10 players,you will get only one champion. But we are desperate to do well,and that’s why we have started conducting zone championships in cities like Jodhpur which helps former players take interest in players of their state and train them

What approach should the players adopt?

We need to improve the standards and level of Indian coaches,who are in direct contact of players across the country. Conduct clinics for them and then monitor how they are implementing those techniques in the cities. Plus,the feeling of dedicating yourself full-time to the sport needs to be instilled. Players should experiment playing abroad more and not give up early or quit.

How has the idea of playing in European clubs and leagues gone down with the Indian players?

Often players couldn’t perform in international events because they could not adjust to the playing conditions,style of players or even the weather when they traveled to competitions. Playing in these leagues helps a lot because they have tournaments round the year and players of international class participate. They become open to a new approach towards fitness,and speed on the table. Our kids can get an idea whether their shot-making and receiving is suitable or they need to work upon it. Depending on talent a lot of these clubs offer contracts to the players,which can be very good for their careers.

Has the idea of bringing foreign coaches here worked for the players? In what ways is their training different?

Yes. Apart from national team’s coach Massimo Constantini,we have a few other foreign experts at academies in Ajmer and Pune. The best thing about foreign coaches is that they are able to guide the players on a full-time basis. The domestic camps that these experts from China,Japan conducted proved to be very helpful as they come with a worldview and travel with players to competitions.