PUNE Across seven categories in Maharashtra – midget, cadet, sub-junior, junior, youth, women and men, there are only 12 Pune players seeded. Seedings run for the top eight in each category and the list is dominated by Mumbai and Thane players.
These numbers raise the question in the minds of table tennis followers in the city, as Pune is blessed with excellent facilities and boasts various academies where TT is practiced every day.
Dipti Chaphekar, who has been coaching Pune paddlers for the last 13 years at Sharada Sports Centre, has simple a answer: “The current batch of Pune paddlers are not serious enough.”
Chaphekar is one of the coaches accompanying the Pune teams at the 50th inter district championship and 81st Maharashtra State Table Tennis Championship at the Shiv Chhatrapati sports complex, Balewadi.
Why is Pune not dominating the state seedings?
Current batch of Pune paddlers are not serious enough when it comes to table tennis. They prefer studies over sports and this is where Mumbai players outshine us.
How one can change this scenario?
{{/usCountry}}How one can change this scenario?
{{/usCountry}}One needs to practice six hours daily and should not be worried about studies so much. Parents are highly educated and they prefer studies over sports, but they need to understand that more practice will make their wards good players. Mumbai paddlers travels for hours in local trains without a complaint, but here even if the academy is 15 minutes away from their place, parents are reluctant to send their children for practice twice a day.