Before reflecting on the year-ending National Table Tennis Championship, it is important to know the background, dotted with the continued indifference of those trusted with running the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), after the turmoil in its administration in the recent past.
If 2023 was seen as a season of hope for Indian table tennis lovers, it sadly managed to reinforce the phrase, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same.’ The elected members of the TTFI, whose responsibilities were assumed by a three-member Committee of Administrators appointed by the High Court from mid-February to early December 2022, did not meet the expectations of players and other stakeholders on various levels.
Headed by Meghna Ahlawat, wife of Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, with eight-time singles national champion Kamlesh Mehta as the secretary-general, the new-look TTFI took charge in December 2022 after a late-night compromise was reached between the opposing groups. Hours later, a farcical election took place in New Delhi, where the voters walked into the polling booth armed with a printed list of office-bearers they were asked to vote for.
In such a divided house, united by a mutual hunger for power, the friction between the two sides was hard to miss throughout 2023. Ahlawat was almost inactive, while Kamlesh, with hardly any experience in administration at this level, could do little as the season’s first national ranking tournament in Hyderabad proved an unmitigated logistical disaster.
On the brighter side, things improved with each of the five national ranking tournaments, ending with the one in Panchkula, Haryana, the home turf of the TTFI president. But playing four back-to-back tournaments culminating in the all-important national championship meant too much for the majority of players.
As Kamlesh explained, “We did so at the behest of the top players who wanted the TTFI to be done with the senior circuit by December end so that they could focus on the upcoming WTT events leading to the World Team Championship. India, as a team, has a good chance to qualify in the men’s section of the Paris Olympic Games. We understand the schedule for the rest of the players was tight, but we couldn’t help it.”
A day after the culmination of the last national ranking event, the national championship began at the same venue and proved to be a huge success. Haryana, known for its generous hospitality, once again left no stone unturned and organised the best event of the year.
Add to it a full field in the men’s and women’s singles, and the effort seemed all worth it. Though fancied names like Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra made premature exits, there was no dearth of thrilling action. In the end, Harmeet Desai claimed his second national singles title, while little-known Poymantee Baisya became the new women’s singles winner.
Much like the All India Chess Federation (AICF), the TTFI, too, decided to allow the highly questionable ‘pay-and-play’ offer. This meant a player could pay Rs. 6,000 and play singles alongside the selected players from his or her state or institutions and get a Certificate of Participation, whatever it’s worth, from the TTFI.
This was done to attract more revenue for the host state and the TTFI, their share being 60:40. No wonder; a record number of entries were seen. While the TTFI, the host, and the players were happy, the hapless technical officials, umpires, etc. had to officiate from 8 a.m. to around midnight for the initial days.
With the main draws in singles getting over in just two days, G. Sathiyan pointed to the fact that the finalists could play as many as seven matches in two days. The scheduling of the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals on the same day was not appreciated by the players.
Coming to the on-table action, there were some predictable outcomes, like the Petroleum men and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) women retaining the team titles. It was the 27th occasion for Petroleum and a second in succession for RBI. When you employ the most-performing names in Indian table tennis, such results are not difficult to guess.
With Petroleum women failing to qualify, the journey proved comfortable for RBI, relying on defending singles winner Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, and a not-fully-fit Diya Chitale. The 3-0 triumph over Tamil Nadu underlined its supremacy.
Petroleum men, without Sharath, chose to rest an in-form Harmeet for the final and fielded a struggling duo of A. Amalraj and Manav Thakkar in the company of Sathiyan, whose only appearance came in the title clash against Delhi. The eventual 3-0 result was much anticipated.
In the open event, the acceptance of Manika’s last-minute entry exposed the double standards of the TTFI. After the draw was made, Manika’s call to Competition Manager N. Ganeshan, followed by an email from the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, proved enough. Fearing pressure from those in authority in Indian sports, it was decided to quietly accommodate Manika and make necessary changes to the singles draw.
The players, coaches, and parents present, in private, questioned TTFI for flouting its own rules. However, they were all aware of the clout Manika wields after winning a legal battle and bringing TTFI to its knees in 2022. However, Manika was sent packing following her first outing. Manika, who had received a first-round bye, ran into Haryana’s Bengal import, Prithoki Chakraborty, this time and fell in just 33 minutes. Prithoki’s 11-7, 4-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8 triumph remained the talking point of the evening, though men’s second seed Manav Thakkar also made his exit.
Thakkar, who lost a couple of matches in the team championship, paid the price for his inconsistency against 15th seed Anirban Ghosh, who emerged as a surprise 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-5 winner.
Though upsets continued, how a scratchy Sharath survived Delhi youngster Yashansh Malik in the pre-quarterfinal was an indication of the 10-time winner not being anywhere close to his peak form.
The following morning, left-hander Manush Shah proved more than a handful for fourth-seeded Sharath. He chalked out an almost unbelievable scoreline of 11-9, 11-1, 11-4, 11-4 in what appeared to be the great champion’s last appearance in the national championship.
Eventually, the much-anticipated final between Harmeet and Sathiyan proved to be a fitting finale. Both players gave it their all in seven pulsating games. Sathiyan, nursing a troubled back, took a medical time-out after trailing 2-3 and came back to force the decider, but Harmeet was not to be denied another success.
In the women’s section, Poymantee’s amazing run will be recalled for a long time. Not among the top eight seeds, Poymantee took out former champion Archana Kamath in the quarterfinals, defending champion Sreeja in the semifinals, and then bounced back to trump Ayhika in the final.
Coming from a modest background, Poymantee showed how desperately she needed the national title. Poymantee’s attitude, that of a gutsy street fighter, stood out on the big points. Coached by Abhishek Mukherjee, this 21-year-old Railway player showed tremendous fighting spirit and scant respect for reputations. One hopes Poymantee gets her due and more opportunities to polish her skill sets. Before signing off her campaign with the singles title, Poymantee collected the team bronze, won the doubles gold with Sutirtha Mukherjee, and finished runner-up in the mixed doubles final with Akash Pal. Notably, the Akash-Poymantee combination swept four national ranking titles this year. But the singles gold brought the biggest joy to Poymantee during a fantastic 2023.
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