Passion, commitment, the key to longevity

Achanta Sharath Kamal

Pratiyush Bauva, 14
What would be your advice to budding players who want to become professional TT players?

Most importantly, you need to have passion and commitment. Without commitment, you cannot have the discipline for consistency. Without commitment you cannot start anything and without consistency, you're never going to finish. That's the reason why senior players keep talking about consistency, commitment and passion. You need to love what you're doing on an every day basis. Everybody keeps asking me how to do it for so many years. I just like doing what I'm doing. There are days when I don't want to get out of the bed, when I don't want to go to practise. But in the end, I push myself, get out of my comfort zone and do it. That's what I want to tell youngsters. You need to constantly drive your coaches to help you. It should not be the opposite. Coaches should not be driving you to get what you want to achieve. You should be asking them where you are going wrong and rectify it.

Also Read: ‘Feel responsible to help younger generation': Sharath Kamal

Sampada Bhiwandkar, 18
Tell us about your hobbies...

I like music a lot. I used to play the guitar and actually want to go to a proper class and learn how to play it better. My daughter [Suyasha] is currently learning how to play keyboards. So, with her getting into the piano, I'd like to have some jam sessions with her. Music has always helped me unwind. After a day's
work, I listen to different kind of music to seek comfort.

Sana D'Souza, 16
What would you have become if not a table tennis player?

My parents never gave me an option. They put me into TT and I liked it so much that I never thought of doing anything else. There was a stage in my life, at the age of 20, when I was unable to break into the national team. That's when I'm actually starting to think what if I don't make it in the next two-three years. I've done a Bachelors in Commerce so I would probably have done an MBA or CA. I like accounts. I was thinking along those lines. But my parents never forced me into anything. Of course, my mother would have wanted me to become an engineer. That's the typical South Indian approach in these matters. That's also because my cousins are all engineers and currently in the US. But my parents let me decide. And I was introduced to table tennis so early, that I started loving it. There were days when I would wake my dad up at 6am and ask him to take me to the club to play. That's the love I have for this game. So, I don't think I could have picked any other profession.

Sharveya Samant, 16
Why is it so difficult to beat Chinese players in table tennis?

It's not just for us, it's like that for the rest of the world too. They are always three to four steps ahead of the rest. Firstly, they have a good structure for training. They are completely funded by the government. So the kids from a very young age, around five or six, don't go to school. They just play table tennis. And the day they finish playing table tennis, the government helps them find jobs. Supporting players like this is something we cannot do. For that matter, any other country cannot do this. The Chinese also have the technical understanding to play the sport well because they invest a lot of time into research and development. They have university degrees in table tennis. They actually have PhDs on how to switch a racquet and what's the best technique to get the best results, and on the biomechanical aspect of the sport. This is all at another level. At the same time, while we practise for seven to eight hours a day, they train for 10-11 hours daily. So every day, they have two to three hours more of practice than the rest of the world.