India’s chief national table tennis coach, Manjit Dua, believes that coaches should be like the head of the family and should treat each player equally.
While interacting with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) coaches on Friday on the ‘importance of coach and their advice’, Dua praised the growth of Indian table tennis. “It is looking up and is in the stage when the world is taking note of our achievements. More and more youngsters are entering the top 100 in world rankings in different categories.” said Dua.
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A national champion, Dua said sparring with Ranbir Bhandari -- who was reportedly the first Indian to play in the [German] Bundesliga league in the 1950s -- helped him better his game. “He's (Ranbir) [95-year-old] still active and involved in TT, and comes for the Delhi State-ranking tournaments,” Dua said.
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Dua said he realised the importance of physical fitness when Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) sent him for a two-month training stint to North Korea in 1973. “That time I used to train very very hard in conditions which were -10 to -20 degree Celcius. I used to practice service nearly 5000 times a day. Playing against pen-holders in NK helped me. I picked up my physical fitness in NK,” he said.
On his vision for Indian table tennis, the 66-year-old Dua said it’s difficult to predict now with the Covid-19 pandemic, but expressed hope that “most of our players will take part in 2021 Olympics."
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