TT: India’s long pips game needs to evolve

The rubber used by Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula has made its mark in table tennis but the world is now catching on

Mumbai: Massimo Costantini has received several interview requests by Chinese media over the past few months. The line of questioning, explained the head coach of Indian table tennis, all revolves around the same thing: the constant use of the long pimple rubber by Indian women.

Manika Batra has been using the long-pimpled rubber for a number of years. (Getty Images)

“They are very interested in India’s development,” he told HT, on the sidelines of the recently concluded 86th Senior National Championships in Surat.

Over the past few years, while Chinese paddlers have stomped their way through competitions with little fuss, they have been beaten time and again by the Indian women who use the peculiar rubber on the backhand side of their bats.

The World Team Championships last year was particularly alarming for China, with Ayhika Mukherjee beating then world No.1 Sun Yingsha and Sreeja Akula getting the better of world No.2 Wang Yidi.

“That was a big hit for China. Everyone there keeps talking about that,” says Costantini.

The rubber deceives by putting the opposite spinning effect on the ball. For example, if the opponent hits it with top spin, then regardless of the shot the player using the long pimple rubber employs, it is returned with backspin, and vice-versa.

Crucially for the Indians, China has started researching on the pimples. They have started bringing in sparring partners who use the particular rubber in order to work on ways to counter it. The novelty may wear off, but Costantini asserts that there is still scope of using the rubber as a weapon.

“Right now, it is used in a very passive way,” he says. “There are so many women players who adopt this rubber from an early age, but they don’t develop the game. They need to work on more variations – different speeds, heights, lengths, placements...”

Star Indian player Achanta Sharath Kamal echoes the opinion.

“This is a defensive rubber, but the mentality cannot be defensive,” he said. “When kids use the rubber, you get points off the opponents’ mistakes. But as you get older, the opponent is fitter, has better footwork and more understanding. You have to be more attack-minded. That’s where Manika (Batra) and Sreeja (Akula) are different. They play aggressive with those rubbers.”

Through Batra, India got its first real taste of success with the long pimple rubber when she upset then world No.4 Feng Tianwei of Singapore to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Last year Batra also beat world No.2 Wang Manyu at a World Table Tennis event in Saudi Arabia.

Batra however, was not the first prominent Indian to use the rubber well. That was Neha Aggarwal Sharma, who competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

“I started using the rubber when I was seven,” recalled Neha , who was introduced to the rubber by her coach Sandeep Gupta. “Nobody in India used it at the time, so I used to feel odd because my playing style was different. There was no playbook, no role model.”

Neha became that role model. And by the time Batra started her journey in the sport under Gupta’s tutelage, there was more knowledge about the rubber and how it could be used to her advantage.

Batra’s success on the tour prompted more players to start using the rubber.

“When kids start in the game, their backhand side is weaker, hence coaches recommend the use of long pimples,” says Akula, who last year became the highest-ever ranked Indian singles player when she reached the world No.21 mark.

“At the international level where opponents are aggressive, using such a rubber is difficult. Now we are finding more variations, but we need to be more consistent with it and learn more about it.”

The research continues, but there is a danger of getting stagnant. As foreign opponents start to study the nature of the long pimples and how to tackle it, the need to improve on backhand side is just as important.

“Eventually,” Akula adds, “you have to develop a strong backhand. You have to have an overall game and not just depend on the rubber.”

And with the slowing nature of the ball and the table compared to decades earlier, Aggarwal says, the spin imparted on the ball is much less than what was possible before.

“The subtleties are reducing and rallies are getting longer. Longer rallies are a problem for long pimples,” Aggarwal adds.

Arup Basak, the former national champion and India head coach, is of the opinion that the novelty of the rubber is rapidly wearing out.

“It’s effective for the players now, but I feel it’s not going to work well in 10-15 years,” he says. “The rubber has a fixed character. The players are bringing more variations, but the rubber itself has its limitations.”

The Chinese have now taken active measures to discover those limitations.

The rubber was widely used by the Chinese in the 1980s and 1990s. Deng Yaping, considered one of the greatest players the sport has seen, won nine World Championships gold medals and four Olympic Golds – in singles and doubles at Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 – while using the long pimples.

Now 51, Deng was roped in by the Chinese federation to organise a training camp for the current players ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was a measure taken keeping in mind the growing threat of the long pimples, and the band of Indian players using it to great effect.