“This is just the beginning”, says Harmeet Desai on Indian TT team’s Oly qualification
Strap: Focus on improving world ranking, not thinking about his Oly spot yet
Gandhidham 5, March: The Indian table tennis team added a new chapter in their ever-growing glorious book. On March 4, Indian men’s and women’s team officially booked their spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics making it their first-ever Oly team qualification.
Gujarat’s prolific paddler Harmeet Desai, India’s top paddler today, played a pivotal role in India’s crucial victory over Kazakhstan in the first round of the recently concluded World Table Tennis Championships held in Busan, Korea which ensured world rankings enough to qualify for Olympics.
The Surti paddler hit a purple patch in June 2023 when he became India’s leading paddler (India’s highest-ranked in world rankings) and has had his share of brilliant performances since.
Sitting down for a chat, the 30-year-old touched upon a lot of topics that have brought about major differences in his life and performance on the table.
Excerpts
Q: It’s official now. Indian paddlers-men and women-will take part in the team event at Paris Oly. Your thoughts.
A: The whole Indian table tennis fraternity was waiting for the official confirmation with bated breath. It’s a historic moment for us. We have worked hard as a team and many people have contributed to this success. Many thanks to Sports Authority of India, Table Tennis Federation of India, Gujarat State Table Tennis Association, Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) and the whole support staff who have worked tirelessly to help us achieve this feat. And this is just the beginning.
Q: So, are you thinking about your Olympics spot yet?
A: Paris Oly is still over four months away and there are 6-7 tournaments before it. All I am thinking about is to improve my world rankings and to improve my performance. Actually, I was very close to qualify for Rio 2016 and for Tokyo 2020 but faltered. Let’s see if I can be third-time lucky (grins).
Q: You have had an excellent 6-8 months. Tell us about your purple patch
Ans: In the last one year I have won two national ranking titles and one national championship title. It all started when I won the Panchkula national championship (second of my career) beating my friend and fierce opponent G Sathiyan. Soon after, I made it to my first-ever WTT Contender semi-final in Nigeria where I beat world-ranked 11 Jang Woo Jing of Korea in pre-quarter and WR 24 Xiang Peng of China in quarters.
In the very next event, WTT Contender, Tunsia in June, I got the better of QR 12 Lim Jong Hoon of Korea in round of 32. These wins over top-ranked players gave me a lot of confidence.
Q: Recently at Worlds, you played a key role in India’s win over Kazakhstan in round one. Tell us more
A: We knew beating them would get our team the world rankings required to qualify for the Paris Olympics. It was a pressure match and all of us played well. I felt the pressure a bit more as I was playing the decider. But years of hard work (played nine world championships) paid off when I could pull it off.
Q: Factors behind your superb performance from the past 1.5 years?
A: Many. My mental conditioning coach Gayatri Vartak from Pune, who I have been working with since the 2022 Commonwealth Games, has been very helpful. After staying in Europe for the last 15 years, I have moved to my hometown Surat, Gujarat for the last one year. Quality time spent with my family and wife too has played a role. I have embarked on a spiritual journey for the last two years. I have read the Bhagavad Geeta five times.
Learnings from chapter 12th about being free from anger, more control over senses and focusing on karma and not on results have transformed me from inside.
Q: Tell us more about the role of the High-performance TT academy in Surat and your two new French coaches.
A: I knew coach Julian Girard for a long time and I was in touch with him for the past two years. With the support of SAG and GSTTA, SAG-Tapti Valley High-Performance Table Tennis Centre (HPTTC) in Surat was started in September 2023. Julian and Cedric Rouleau have made minor tactical changes. My body language is more aggressive and self-belief and confidence have sky-rocketed. They analyse my game better and work on my footwork too.
Q: Talk to us about your new role in the team.
A: For the first time, I am playing in first position. Even though it is quite a pressure job but I am not complaining as this is what we all train for all these years.