Sharath's retirement brought a lull but future of Indian TT looks bright: Dronacharya awardee coach

New Delhi, Sep 8 (PTI) A rich talent pool of players promises a bright future for Indian table tennis despite the recent retirement of stalwart Sharath Kamal, said Dronacharya awardee coach Sandeep Gupta on Monday.

Gupta is currently busy with the conduct of the National Ranking Table Tennis Championship which has returned to Delhi after a long gap of 13 years.

The tournament attracting close to 3000 entries is an indicator of the growing interest in the sport across the length and breadth of India, said Gupta, who is also the childhood coach of star player Manika Batra.

"The future of table tennis is very bright. Earlier, the level set by Sharath Kamal was very high. After that, there was a gap in the talent pool.

"But now, our top players - Manush, Manav, Sathiyan, Harmeet, and Ankur Bhattacharya - are very prominent names in Indian table tennis,” Gupta told PTI at the Thyagaraj Stadium, the venue for the national ranking meet.

He feels it a big deal for Delhi to host an event of this scale after a long hiatus.

“We are able to host the championship after a gap of 15 years. Our players used to participate outside of the national ranking tournaments, but this is the first time we are hosting it, because of this, close to 3000 players are participating.

"Spectators will get a chance to see their role models-national champions, Olympic participants, Asian Games medallists, and Commonwealth medallists. They will get an opportunity to understand their game, and in turn, improve their own. This is a big achievement in itself." India regularly win medals at the Commonwealth Games and of late have also brought laurels at the Asian Games, competing with traditional table tennis powerhouses like China and Japan.

However, an Olympic medal in table tennis remans a work in progress.

"As you can see, we have just defeated Japan. So, in the coming time, we were 2-0 up against China ( Indian women in the world championships). We hope our players will regularly defeat China and Japan in the near future. We just need to continue performing the way we are right now,” said Gupta.

At the opening ceremony of the event, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta emphasized her government’s commitment to sports, announcing the highest-ever cash rewards for international medal winners.

Olympic medalists from Delhi will now receive ₹7 crore for gold, ₹5 crore for silver, and ₹3 crore for bronze. For the Commonwealth Games, the rewards will be ₹3 crore, ₹2 crore, and ₹1 crore respectively.

Gupta welcomed the announcement, noting the impact such incentives can have on athletes’ motivation and future.

He also highlighted the achievements of Payas Jain, a rising star from Delhi who once held the world number one spot in the U-17 category, as an example of the capital’s growing contribution to the national talent pool.

"The pool of players is strong. Our own Payas Jain, a player from Delhi, is performing very well. The depth of talent is impressive, and I am 100% hopeful that these players will bring medals to our country." PTI SG BS BS