The men have been there done that, but for the women, it’s the biggest deal ever. When Indian Women’s table tennis team won gold medal at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, it was the biggest and brightest moment for women’s TT in India.
The joy of this particular gold medal is palpable right back in India in the TT fraternity—former players and past champions. The excitement of this achievement comes through their laughing and smiling voices.
“They are very excited, the feeling hasn’t sunk in yet,” said an elated former Olympian Neha Aggarwal to THE WEEK. “This means the world, it’s the women team’s biggest achievement ever in International TT.”
Indian women have never been on top of podium in the history of the CWG. With this, India became the second country in the CWG history to win gold in women’s team event. Singapore has dominated the games having won all 4 times since the event was included at Manchester in 2002. The Indian eves were expected to bring home the silver; the gold was not even a thought. However, this gold medal winning team has changed that expectation and many perceptions.
Said former multiple times national champion and Arjuna awardee Monalisa Baruah Mehta, “The girls have made history. It's such a proud moment for India. They have played so well and with full confidence.”
“A pure team work,” is how foreign coach Massimo Costantini described it.
India, helped by Manika Batra’s heroics, defeated top-seeded and defending champions Singapore 3-1 in the final to claim their first gold on Day 4 at the Games.
The girls, however, don’t have time to relish this success. The individual and doubles matches start on Tuesday. The celebration in the entire TT squad—both men and women—has doubled with the men’s team, too, finishing on top of the podium on Monday.
However, the gold medal means so much more for the ladies. Simply because like many sports in India, women were never the main focus but additional. The men always got more attention—largely due to scattered but more achievements on international stage.
Speaking about the challenges faced by women TT players and teams—of both present and past—Aggarwal who was the only woman player to qualify from India in Beijing Olympics 2008, a bronze medalist at 2009 Commonwealth Championship in Glasgow and 2006 Asian championship, said: “This (CWG champions) is the highest one could go. We could not win medals in Olympics or Asian championships, which is almost like another Olympics, because of the presence of powerhouses like China, Japan and Korea. We always faltered at quarter final stage.”
The current set of players which includes Manika Batra, Mouma Das, Madhurika Patkar, Pooja Sahasrabudhe, and Suthirta Mukherjee are a class apart. Simply because they have a self belief that they can beat the best which was sadly lacking in their peers often. “The way Manika played—she looked more confident, her skills are vastly improved. In fact, Madhurika, too, has been stand out in the matches at CWG. They reflect “we are no less” attitude,” said Monalisa Baruah Mehta.
“I would say the new lot are more experimental, they are thinking beyond winning national championships. No offence meant but earlier players like us would always focus on winning either nationals or the CWG. These young girls have brought in fresh thinking. The way they have planned their calendar individually has never used to happen before. We always had the game but couldn’t pull off wins over world number 20 or say 40 ranked player,” said Aggarwal. She was part of several national camps in her time as a front line player. “Earlier, 10 girls who were part of national team would follow same drills. Look at Mouma, how strategically she has planned her competitions ahead of CWG. She made a conscious decision not to play many domestic events.” Most girls have individual coaches now and work on specifics, especially a big international event.
The women’s team saw a reduced support from government post a poor showing in the previous Glasgow edition of the CWG. This gold should hopefully change that.
Lack of enough top class international exposure is one of the banes of women’s TT in India. “Other players from SE Asian powerhouses or Europe play every weekend in big leagues. We don’t get that exposure enough of playing top class players regularly.” But things are slowly changing. The advent of Ultimate TT league in India has helped quite a bit. Players got opportunity to play world class players. Besides, success rubs of from men to women. The likes of Achanta Sharath Kamal, who plays regularly in the Dusseldorf League and is ranked inside world top 50 has made a difference.