Young Paddler with great potential: Soumyajit Ghosh

What Siliguri-born paddler Soumyajit Ghosh took up as a hobby at just the age of five, has since become a passion and now a professional career that he is a master of.

The maiden senior national crown was not the only achievement of Soumyajit that he boasts of so proudly. But in the last twelve months, he had also qualified for the London Olympics and he won his opening round singles match too.

The 19-year-old paddler won couple of medals for India in the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships held this year. It was nothing but fruit of his hard work ethics and dedicated practice regimes.

Soumyajit puts forth his thoughts in an exclusive interview with Sportskreed correspondent Tarun Gupta..

You participated in the London Olympics and also won a match there. How would you describe your Olympic experience?

It was really a fantastic atmosphere for sports at the Olympics. I had a great experience since it was my first time at the Olympic Games. After winning my first round I gained a lot of confidence to play the forthcoming big matches which is exactly what has helped me to play better this season.

How would you rate your gold-winning effort at Senior Nationals beating the favorite Sharath Kamal?

I think Sharath was the favorite because of his superior world ranking but I had a better Indian rank and I had always believed that I can beat Sharath.

I felt very good after beating such a great player.

What was your feeling after beating your all time favorite Jan-Ove Waldner in a match played in the Swedish League?

It was also one of the most memorable moments of my career. He does not play International tournaments anymore. I was lucky to get this opportunity to play against him in the Swedish league.

What immediate aims do you have in mind with regards to your professional career?

 I want to repeat my national title winning performance this year and we will have Commonwealth Games in 2014 in Glasgow. I want to win a medal there too.

What is India’s standing in the world of table tennis now? Where do Indian paddlers stand in the world arena? Do you see a bright future of table tennis in India?

I think we are improving our team world ranking but it’s a long way to go. Everyone knows that countries like China & Japan are very dominating in this discipline. We are getting good support from the Government and the Table Tennis Federation. Also many players are practicing and playing professional leagues abroad, so I hope that India comes up at the top of the table tennis world.

What is your training program like? What do you do for the mental training?

I am practicing 5-6 hours in a day including physical training. I think mental part is very important for every sports person and it is really tough to get good mental training. Whenever I get in a difficult situation, I just stay strong and say to myself that this is best mental training what I can get.

What do you think can be done to popularize the sports of Table Tennis more in our country?

First we need to improve our world ranking to get the sponsors into the game. It would be perfect if we can win a medal at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Media attention is also very important to popularize the game in the country.

The youngster, who made a smooth transition from the junior to the senior level, has set his sights on improving his current world ranking of 163.

Having been the first Indian Table Tennis player to have won a round at the Olympics, this young paddler with great potential, plans to break into top 100 soon.