The 42-day long Senior National table tennis camp came to an end at Delhi Public School (Sonepat, Haryana) on Tuesday, with the players expressing satisfaction of having trained intensively together for the first time since COVID-19 struck in mid-March.
The Indian team’s torch-bearer Sharath Kamal was very happy with the way the camp had panned out.
“It was nice to play again after a while and to get back into the groove. We had morning and evening sessions and some days devoted to fitness and gym,” Sharath told The Hindu here on Tuesday.
“The COVID break wasn’t good in any way for us. It was great sparring with Manav [Thakkar], Jeet [Chandra] and Sudanshu Grover. We got into the match mode pretty quickly; we are hoping that competitions will start sooner than later.”
Sharath revealed that Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has lined up all the National championships from cadets to seniors from possibly the end of January in two venues — DPS Sonepat (Haryana) and Abhay Prashal Indoor Stadium (Indore). “I think the Senior Nationals might be in Sonepat in February 2021,” he said.
Twenty-year-old Manav Thakkar was delighted to be part of the camp.
“It was not easy on the part of TTFI and Sports Authority of India (SAI) to organise a camp in COVID-19 situation. But they did a wonderful job. Everyone gave 100%. From day one to day 40, we saw a huge difference in our game. Sharath bhaiya guided us very well,” said Thakkar, who is aiming to bag his maiden Senior National crown after having reached the final in the last edition in Hyderabad.
