India Open: Manav Thakkar goes down fighting to a leftie, but Soumyajit Ghosh betters one

Manav Thakkar says his coach will review video footage and give him pointers on not making mistakes while playing a lefty.

table tennis, india open, karan thakkar, soumyajit ghosh, Joao Geraldol, TT India Open, sports news

Manav Thakkar couldn’t decipher World No. 74 Joao Geraldol booming serves.

While they make up a mere 10 per cent of the population, left-handers get their way in sports. And no, it has nothing to do with how the human brain is wired, as some leading neuroscientists would like you to believe. The reason is simply unfamiliarity. Lefties play against righties all the time. Righties rarely face lefties.

Table tennis is no different. Two of the world’s top four men are lefties; two of the top three in women, including World No. 1 Ding Ning of China. Generalising players—right-handers or left-handers—is dangerous, but the southpaw paddlers are known to be usually strong in the middle and from the forehand corner and cause trouble with the reverse pendulum spin on their serve.

While you learn to adapt at the world level, it is tougher for younger players, who are unaccustomed to the angles and spins that come off a left-hander’s paddle. The 17-year-old Manav Thakkar vindicated the theory with a loss to World No. 74 Joao Geraldol at the India Open on Tuesday. While the counter-attacking Indian took two games thanks to strong backhand blocks and jabs, he couldn’t get used to the “very good angles” the Portuguese created.

Story continues below this ad

He couldn’t decode his service for much of the game.“His service was too good and I could only play long,” said Thakkar, after losing 11-9, 9-11, 3-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-13 in a qualifying match at the $150,000 ITTF world tour event. “You would have to practice with a lefty every day to get used to it.”

Coach Massimo Costantini employs a tactic of setting up multiple video cameras on each court and Thakkar says the Italian will review the footage and give him pointers on “not making the silly mistakes” and playing a lefty.

Perhaps, he can also get a hold of Sanil Shetty, the left-handed Indian who dished out some reverse pendulum serves of his own, upsetting world No. 94 Lubomir Jancarik of Czech Republic 12-14,12-10,8-11,11-4,8-11,12-10,16-14.

Or he can heed counsel of the world No. 82 Soumyajit Ghosh, who overcame a southpaw of his own. Down three games to one, Ghosh rallied back to defeat Saudi Arabia’s Ali Alkhadrawi 6-11, 9-11, 11-6, 12-14, 11-5, 11-6, 11-8. He, however, admitted that left-handers are tricky in general. “Lefties are tricky, because they are serving directly to your forehand,” said Ghosh. “But they can only cause problems when you’re shaky.”

Jangling nerves

Story continues below this ad

And ‘shaky’ he was. In fact, Ghosh’s real opponent wasn’t the leftie across the table, but he himself. The visibly rattled double Olympian called the win ‘lucky’ and an ‘eye-opener’.

“Out there, my hand was shaking. I am playing in front of the home crowd and there were just so many things going through my mind,” said Ghosh, who played the India Open’s previous edition in 2010. “Seven years ago, I was 16 and had no worries in the world. Nobody expected anything of me. Now, I am one of the star attractions and that just put me in so much pressure.” Ghosh added, “I was prepared and I knew this guy was tough but I got so nervous,” Ghosh punches his palm. “I need more positive thinking before entering the court.”

It should be noted that the Thyagaraj Stadium was far from full for the qualifiers. Put under pressure by a dozen spectators and his own teammates, Ghosh admitted, “I am not mature enough. I need more experience. Nobody is saying I have to win but I put pressure on myself.”

While Ghosh and Shetty entered the main draw thanks wins in their first qualifier, Thakkar’s fate depends on Wednesday’s match between Geraldo and compatriot Arjun Ghosh.