Indian paddler Reeth Rishya working on mental strength aspect of her game

Oil India paddler Reeth Rishya Tennison being awarded the Petroleum inter-unit tournament winners trophy at New Delhi recently. PIC/Twitter

The Indian women's table tennis contingent didn't have a solid show in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, but paddler Reeth Rishya Tennison is working hard to turn things around both individually and for the team. She is tweaking her playing technique and also focusing on bettering her mental strength.

"If I speak about the Commonwealth Games, we couldn't achieve what we expected. It was my first big tournament and it was disappointing not to perform well. We came back and analysed what went wrong. I realised that playing in big events and normal tournaments is very different. There is a lot of pressure when you play under a big roof," Reeth told mid-day recently.

When asked about her preparations leading up to future marquee events like the World Championships next month in Durban, South Africa, and the Asian Games in China in September, she remarked: "I have taken a month's break from the international circuit to focus on the World Championships. I am specifically working on my mental strength. Playing a bigger event requires you to be strong enough in all aspects."

IOC's Reeth, 28, showed tremendous fighting spirit in the Petroleum inter-unit tournament in New Delhi recently.

The top eight players of the country (four men and four women) participated in this event to get an idea of where they stand at the domestic level.

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Reeth staged an impressive comeback after trailing 1-3 against 18-year-old rising star Yashaswini Ghorpade, winning the last three sets and securing her second title.

She had also triumphed in the semi-final after being 1-3 down.

"I am trying to do something different with my game. I tried doing it here also, but it wasn't working well so I had to come back to my basic game and it worked in the finals. I beat Yashaswini comfortably in the last international tournament, but now she has improved a lot," Reeth said about her win.

She went on to explain the reason as to why she is trying to bring changes in her game after playing with the same technique for more than 22 years. "In the previous playing style, I stood a little bit away from the table. It works in domestic events but not at the international level. Over there, you need to move two steps ahead. I am trying to take the ball really quickly and make my action a little shorter. I am working on these changes and it will take time to master these," Reeth added.

She is happy that table tennis as a sport has come a long way in India and the world is taking notice of players from the country. "It's similar to badminton. First it was only Saina Nehwal but now there are so many notable names. In TT, Manika [Batra], Sharath [Kamal] have always been there but now players like me are also getting recognition, especially from the government. If you see the Chinese centre, they have pictures of Indian table tennis players who pose a threat to them," Reeth said.

Chennai-born Reeth also has her eyes on the 2024 Paris Olympics. She needs to play seven to eight tournaments in a year as Indian rankings also matter. Top three players from the domestic rankings will get to play the pre-qualification and whoever wins that will get to play in the Games. There is also the World Championships team event. Even if India finish in the Top 8, they will get a direct entry.