Can a player sustain themselves financially by playing table tennis? India's star Harmeet Desai answers

Indian table tennis is on the rise. Those who have been closely involved and have witnessed its growth firsthand, even proclaim that it is going through a "golden period". But is it? Or is it just romanticism?

It depends on how you look at it. In recent years, India have dominated the Commonwealth Games but struggled to finish in the vicinity of the podium at the World Championships. At the Olympics this year, Indian paddlers made unprecedented strides but failed to secure a semifinal spot in any of the events.

Perhaps, another yardstick to measure the veracity of the "golden period" claims would be gauging whether a player can make a living solely playing the sport. Recently, we had the opportunity to delve deeper into the question as India's star paddler Harmeet Desai spared time for an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda.

This conversation happened last week when Desai was in the middle of his triumphant UTT campaign. He began by telling us that Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) had indeed played its part in expanding the landscape of opportunities for Indian players.

"A lot of doors open up for each player, nationally as well as internationally," said Desai. "Many top players today are coming to India. The perspective that people have about India has changed. Indian players are now being welcomed into European leagues. Earlier one or two players used to play, today 10-15 players, maybe more are playing in European leagues. It is a pretty big thing."

UTT 2024 did feature an array of renowned international players who adorned bright coloured jerseys embellished with several sponsor logos. Each day, a celebrity marked their attendance in the VIP stands. This included chess grandmaster Vishwanathan Anand on the night of the finals. However, the lack of a cable TV broadcast and the sparsely populated general stands throughout the tournament painted a contrasting image of the tournament's viability.

However, Desai believes overall, the sport is in good health and has an iridescent future.

"I would say that the future of table tennis in the country is quite bright," he said. "You look at where TT has reached today. Look at Manika Batra, look at Sharath Kamal - even at the age of 42, he feels motivated."

"All the youngsters that you’re seeing today, have plenty of opportunities. Be it from the (central) government or the state governments. UTT league is there, private sponsors are there. It (the scope) has increased. Earlier, there weren’t as many such opportunities," Desai added.

Questions about financial sustainability in table tennis came to the fore when 24-year-old Archana Kamath announced her retirement after an impressive showing at the Paris Olympics. However, Desai believes that Kamath's decision was not driven by money or a loss of passion for the sport.

"Archana Kamath is a different matter," said Desai, "If people feel that Archana Kamath chose to retire because she was unhappy with table tennis, then I don’t agree. It was her personal choice to go for her studies."

Desai reiterated it was indeed possible for a player to sustain themselves solely by playing table tennis. He stated that he was himself an example of it.

"I am myself sustaining my finances and earning a living completely by playing table tennis. There are many other players like me," said Desai. "Even Archana Kamath had a secured job at Indian Oil. She even left that because she wanted to pursue another dream. Everyone has a personal choice."

Based on Desai's input, one can conclude that table tennis in India has reached a level where it is indeed possible for a budding player to think of it as a career option. Is it enough to call it the "golden period" of Indian table tennis? You be the judge.

"I was quite satisfied with my performance" - Harmeet Desai on his performance at the Paris Olympics.

While the rest can be debated, there is hardly any question about the fact that Harmeet Desai's career is going through a golden period. The last two years have seen him secure two UTT titles, his second CWG gold as well as an Olympics debut. Desai was a part of the Indian contingent that competed in Paris last month.

"It was a pretty good experience for me especially because it was my first Olympics," Desai told us in the same conversation. "It is a multi-sport event where you meet sportspersons from various other sports as well. So, it was a pretty good experience for me."

In the single's competition, Desai defeated Jordan's Zaid Abo Yaman in four straight games in the preliminary round. However, he lost to France's Felix Lebrun in the next match and was consequently eliminated from the tournament.

"I won the first round in the single’s competition. When it is a multi-sport event, then there are plenty of eyeballs on it. In front of around eight thousand people, I was playing against the home favorite. I was quite satisfied with my performance. I was not able to convert the match. But it has been a learning curve that will help me in the future," he concluded.

Desai is competing in the ongoing National Ranking Championship in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh. He would next represent India at the Asian Table Tennis Championship 2024 which will commence on October 7 in Kazakhstan.