After London miss,this Pune paddler eyes 2016 Rio games

The 22-year-old stormed into the finals of the Inter-Institution championship in Kolkata,scalping two top 10 players on her way to the final,where she lost to national champion Poulumi Ghatak. She added that this tournament was instrumental in bringing the best in her.

“Once I had played my first match in the tournament,I understood that my rhythm was good and I was playing well. I concentrated on building on the good start and played some really good table-tennis,” says Divya. “I was expecting to get past Poulumi,but I guess it wasn’t my day.”

2012 has been a good year for Divya. All the frenetic travelling seems to have paid off. The Pune paddler,who advanced to the main draw of the Brazil Open in June,repeated the feat again two weeks later at the Swedish Open in Helsingborg. “My performance was really appreciated as both these tournaments have high standing in international table tennis circuit. I managed to top my qualification group in both tournaments,beating players ranked 50 places above me and that did wonders to my confidence,” she says.

For the reisdent of Law College Road,her ascent in the world rankings has been rapid. She is currently ranked 430 in the world,having jumped 155 places from 585 at the beginning of the year.

“I can advance further if I play more international tournaments and the opportunity to play top-ranked players is a great incentive,” the paddler says,adding her aim is to break into the top 300 by next year.

Divya won silver in the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008 in Pune and says her ambition is to represent India at the Olympics. “I missed out on the 2012 berth due to injuries and lack of form,but I have already begun preparations to ensure that I do not miss the bus for Rio 2016,” Divya says,adding that funding and support for table-tennis players is not problematic and delayed as is the case of a number of other sports. “We regularly go for national camps at National Institute of Sports in Patiala and Bangalore. We also attend training camps in Europe and the federation does try and give us as much exposure as possible.” Divya also believes that with continued support India’s performance on the international circuit is bound to improve.

“We have a lot of talent and I have realis ed that if I put in the requisite hard work then the results will take care of themselves,” she says.

She will be returning to Pune for a short break in September. But before that,she has been invited to play at a district level tournament at Deccan Gymkhana.

Divya,who regularly turns out for India,can be forgiven for giving the district tournament a miss,but she is having none of it.

“I will be playing against different players with differing styles and that allows you to improve your game. I am going to go all out and will try and win the trophy,” she signed off.