Paddler Swastika Ghosh’s calendar is full but she is not complaining.
The 18-year-old Bengal girl clinched a gold in the Under-19 girls final of the WTT (World Table Tennis) Contender event in Tunis, Tunisia, in September and followed it up with a bronze in Serbia.
Next up for her are the nationals in Panchkula (October 18 to 22). Thereafter she leaves with the India team for tournaments in Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia in November.
“A busy calendar, yes,” Swastika told The Telegraph from her base in Navi Mumbai on Saturday. “But I like it this way. The exposure is doing me a world of good.”
In Tunis, she brushed aside Uzbekistan’s Markhabo Magdieva in straight games, defeated compatriot Lakshita Narang and in a gripping five-game final, overcame another compatriot, Yashaswini Ghorphade, 3-2.
“I just thought about playing the final point by point and not focusing too much on winning the match,” she added.
The European tournaments done, Swastika will join Madrid-based club Rivas to play in the Spanish league. The league continues for six months but she will take a break to play in the U-19 World Championships in Porto, Portugal, from December 1-7. She will then resume with the league.
“My under-19 ranking now is No. 5 in the world. The club authorities in Spain had got in touch with me, wanting to know if I was interested. I couldn’t let the chance go for I will have much to learn from playing in the league,” said the determined youngster who has, this year, completed her Class XII board exams.
In between her Spanish stint, she also plans to go to Austria to train under reputed Chinese coach Ma Lin. Her current trainer and playing partner is her father, Sandeep Ghosh.
A scholarship holder of the Virat Kohli Foundation for the past three years, her ticketing, training, living and other expenses are covered by the Foundation.
The shutdown had severely affected her practice, as it did for all athletes. It was a time when her father too was struggling financially.
But all that is, hopefully, behind her now as she focuses on improving her world ranking further.
“An Olympic medal someday, certainly,” concluded Swastika, “But for now, I am completely focused on improving my game and getting better with every passing day.”
