Paddler Sutirtha Mukherjee will play in the Spanish table tennis league for Real Club De Tenis de mesa Linares this season. This will be Sutirtha’s first European stint and, according to national coach Soumyadeep Roy, it will do her confidence a world of good.

Sutirtha, who made an early exit in Tokyo, practises at the Soumyadeep Poulomi UTT Table Tennis Academy. Her first two matches in Spain are on September 13 and 18.

Soumyadeep said Sutirtha will also attend the national camp for the Asian Table Tennis Championship, to be held in Doha from September 28.

“She will either join the camp after her first two games or leave for Spain after attending the camp, depending on the dates,” he said.

The Linares-based club will also play in the Champions League and that will give the 25-year-old more match-time. “If she wants to break into the top-50 bracket she has to play in a top professional league. I held discussions with some clubs and when the Linares offer came, we didn’t think twice. That the club will feature in the Champions League is a huge plus,” Soumyadeep told The Telegraph on Monday.

“She will be travelling alone, which also will be a new experience. I want to see how her decision-making skills improve once she stays alone. I may travel to Spain later in the year,” Soumyadeep added.

Currently world No. 98, Sutirtha is expected to climb up the ladder when the new rankings are announced by the International Table Tennis Federation.

Medal auction

Sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who was removed from the Games after she criticised her coaches, is auctioning a medal from the 2019 European Games to support athletes who say they have been targeted by authorities.

The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation, a group that supports athletes jailed or sidelined for their political views, said on Monday the medal was being auctioned in support of Belarusian athletes “who suffered from the actions of (President Alexander) Lukashenko's regime.”