Table tennis in India: The Rising "Mysterious Power"
"Hey, friends, don't underestimate India table tennis, people are now a rising star in the international table tennis arena!" In recent years, India table tennis has developed vigorously, and it has frequently surprised everyone in major competitions. Let's start with the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which was the highlight of table tennis in India.
The India boy band consists of Achanta, Gananasekaran and Desai, that is called a cow! They defeated two-time champions Singapore in the semi-finals, which was like "the pawn crossed the river and was brave"! In the final, he easily won the Nigerian team in straight sets and successfully won the championship trophy. The women's team is also not weak, Batrana is "not a woman", twice defeated Singapore's Feng Tianwei, helping the India team to win both the women's team and women's singles championships.
In the men's team group stage of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships in 2022, the India team did another big thing! They defeated Germany, the runner-up of the men's team at the Tokyo Olympics and a traditional European powerhouse. At this moment, the eyes of the whole world are focused on the India team, and everyone is thinking: "When did this India team become so powerful?" ”
On September 30, 2023, the Hangzhou Asian Games table tennis women's doubles quarterfinals, that scene is called a wonderful scene! The little-known India pair Sutilta· Mukherjee/Esika· Mukherjee, like two "dark horses", defeated the Chinese pair Chen Meng/Wang Yidi in an upset and successfully advanced to the women's doubles semifinals.
Although they lost to the North Korean pair in the semi-finals on October 2, the bronze medal was India's first Asian Games table tennis women's doubles medal in history. The sisters put four kinds of rubber on their rackets, anti-rubber, long rubber, raw rubber and anti-arc, and the strange tactical coordination made the opponent dizzy, which can really be described as "punching the master to death". Moreover, she had previously defeated Japan's Miyu Kihara/Miwa Haramoto at the WTT Challenger Tunisia in June 2023 to win India's first WTT women's doubles title.
Looking at the opening match of the women's team group stage of the World Table Tennis Championships in Busan on February 16, 2024, the India team has created big trouble for the Chinese team. Akula's India team and China played a difficult match, and in the end, China won 3-2, including Wang Yidi 0-3 to Akula. The process of this game really made the fans' hearts rise to their throats. Let's talk about India's Akula.
This girl is not simple! In September 2022, he was selected into the list of athletes for the team competition of the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships announced by the International Table Tennis Federation. On March 10, 2024, at the WTT Singapore Grand Slam Women's Singles R64 match, she and Wang Manyu fought inseparably, and finally lost 2-3 and missed the round of 32. But this girl is so good that she is not discouraged, on March 26, in the 13th week of the ITTF 2024 world rankings, she rose 7 places to No. 40, setting a new career high. On April 17, in the women's group stage of the 2024 Macau Men's and Women's World Cup, Akula lost 1-3 to Chen Meng.
However, this did not stop her from moving forward, and on May 17, she was selected by the India Table Tennis Association to announce the list of athletes of the India national table tennis team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. On May 30, in the WTT Chongqing Championship Women's Singles 1/16 final, Akula lost 2-3 to Hannah · Gouda, stopping in the round of 32.
But then on June 23, at the 2024 WTT Challenger Lagos, Akula partnered with Camas to win the Women's Doubles final 3-0 (11 - 9, 11 - 6, 12 - 10) over Chitale and Gorpard. On the same day, in the women's singles final, she defeated Chinese player Ding Yijie 4-1 and won the championship. On June 25, in the 26th week of the 2024 world rankings released by the International Table Tennis Federation, Akula's ranking rose 19 places to No. 24, once again setting a new career high.
Akula's technique, which is called a well-rounded, is a near-stage offensive player, with fast forehand attack speed and excellent fighting offensive ability. And she has a unique style of play, she is a strange ball player, and she often makes her opponents scratch her head and suffer.
Friends on the Internet are also discussing the rise of table tennis in India. Someone said: "India table tennis is going against the sky, I didn't pay much attention to it before, and now it suddenly appears so powerful!" Some people sighed: "It seems that the world of table tennis is getting more and more exciting, and it is no longer the world of those traditional strong teams!" The India table tennis team can have today's results, but it is not in a vacuum.
This is inseparable from the hard work of the players themselves, "only by suffering hardship can they become superior", but also from the support and development of the team. In recent years, the India government and the Table Tennis Association have attached great importance to it, invested a lot of resources into it, built infrastructure, and trained young players, laying a solid foundation for the rise of table tennis in India. Moreover, they continue to exchange and cooperate with other table tennis powers, "learn from experience", and learn advanced training methods and strategic strategies.
In addition, India has also established high-prize tournaments such as the "Table Tennis Ultimate League", which attracts elite players from all over the world and further promotes the development of table tennis in India.
Looking to the future, the development prospects of table tennis in India are bright. The new generation of India table tennis players represented by Ghanasekaran and Akula, like the "little tiger", are striving to improve their own level and integrate international advanced experience, maybe one day they will be able to set off a bigger storm in the world table tennis arena.
Friends, let's look forward to more surprises and excitement brought to us by India table tennis in the future! You are also welcome to leave your views and wishes on India table tennis in the comment area, and let's talk about the world of "table tennis"!
To sum up, India table tennis has gone from obscurity in the past to shining in the international arena, and they are constantly breaking through themselves and creating good results. I believe that in the future, they will continue to work hard and become a force to be reckoned with in the international table tennis world. Let's cheer for them together, and look forward to the global table tennis sport being more exciting because of their rise!