Time to get coach, say Sharath, Sathiyan

Tribune News Service

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Chandigarh, April 17

With the Olympics postponed, top Indian paddlers believe there is now an opportunity to appoint the head coach well in time before the quadrennial extravaganza.

India were left without a head coach after Massimo Costantini quit immediately after the 2018 Asian Games, citing personal reasons. Though national coach Manjit Dua has been doing a good job, both Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran believe it would be in the interests of the players if Massimo’s replacement is named soon.

“Massimo left all of a sudden, which left the Table Tennis Federation (TTFI) and the government (Sports Authority of India) in a spot. All the coaches were already contracted and we could not get another coach at a short notice,” said Sathiyan.

“Personally, I never faced any problem… I had my personal coach, trainer, mental conditioning coach, dietician and physio,” he added. “I think for the top players, it was OK. Manika was doing well, Sharath was doing well. But the players who got affected were the emerging players like Manav (Thakkar).”

“Earlier, there were a lot of camps, which are not happening now because the head coach is not there,” he added. “Yes, the head coach, whether foreigner or Indian, is the need of the hour.”

“The main thing is that we need to be ready once this lockdown is lifted,” said Sharath. “We now have a good chance of getting a coach. Since the Olympics have been postponed and we have nearly 15 months to prepare, we do have decent period of time left to look for another coach.”

“Head coach can really monitor the things and act as a bridge between the players and the federation. And there will be a lot planning involved. Right now we are helping the federation with the planning, it’s been good but I feel if coach can do this job, it will definitely be much better,” pointed Sathiyan.

TTFI secretary general MP Singh said they would try to hire a coach during the World Team Table Tennis Championships, rescheduled for September-October after being postponed in March. “We would have settled the issue during the World Championships, but the event was postponed,” Singh said. “We will try to get the coach thing sorted out in October, during the rescheduled World Championships.”

“We will try to hire the coach for seven-eight years, until the 2028 Olympics,” he asserted.