Challenger to champion - Jeet Chandra's ascent in the world of table tennis

Jeet Chandra has the potential to make a name for himself in the upper echelons of the table tennis world. He is still a work in progress and needs to put in the hard yards to maintain the upward trajectory of his career.

After defeating Manav Thakkar in three straight sets to clinch the 2020 ITTF Challenger Plus Oman Open in Muscat, Jeet featured regularly in national events and also earned important experience in Germany’s Bundesliga, playing for the Windsbach club.

Earlier in March this year, he paired up with Bengal paddler Ankur Bhattacharjee to win the men’s doubles event at the 84th Senior National and Inter-state championships in Jammu. Just four months later, Jeet Chandra replaced Ankur in the Bengaluru Smashers squad, the latest entrants in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT).

It was against Harmeet Desai during Smashers’ final league game that gave a glimpse of Jeet’s aggressive style of play. The fast-paced shots by the youngster forced India’s best-ranked player in the ITTF rankings to commit error after error. Jeet was ecstatic after securing successive games against Harmeet with identical scores of 11 -7.

Harmeet stamped his authority in the third game, taking a substantial lead of 9-5 at one stage but Jeet made a remarkable comeback with his blistering strokes to outclass his senior and bag four points in a row. The game was locked at 10-10 before Jeet threw the opportunity to seal the golden point, showing laxity in the shot that was slightly forced out of the table.

His experience of playing with Harmeet on a couple of instances before their UTT clash only helped the youngster to understand his opponent’s game better.

“I was pretty confident from the beginning only. I won against him for the first time this year only in the national championship team event. Then in the Nigeria qualification, I lost to him also but after beating him 3-0, I was confident that I can bring two or three games for my team,” Jeet told Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview.

Jeet made his UTT debut this season and played the last three league matches for the Bengaluru Smashers. He won a total of four games in the men’s singles category, including his 2-1 result against Harmeet, but managed just one win each against left-handed players Benedikt Duda (Chennai Lions) and Manush Shah (Puneri Paltan).

“UTT is a great stage to build up your game, belief system and confidence. To play against high-ranked players, you won’t get much chance at the international level. You have to beat a lot of players then you get to face the high-ranked players. If you win games against them then it gives a lot of confidence and morale-booster,” said the Bengaluru paddler.

Unlike many national players, Jeet didn’t fall in love with Table Tennis at his school but at his home at the age of four. Thanks to father Tapan Chandra, a national TT coach himself, for introducing the game to his son through his routine training with players like Poulomi Ghatak.

“I used to have a table at my home. My father used to train many athletes at home only. Then I started loving the game. He didn’t pressure me or something like that. He just wanted me to enjoy and I got in love with the game and everything fell into place,” said Jeet, who hails from Kolkata’s Gariahat area.

“From the age of six or seven, I started playing proper strokes. At the age of 10, I played my first cadet nationals. We won the gold medal in the cadet team event. After winning the gold medal, I felt very happy and like I got the passion for the game also,” he added.

An avid follower of Portugal international football star Cristiano Ronaldo, Jeet doesn’t shy away from displaying aggression on the table. He credits the iconic player for inspiring him with his passion and dedication to the sport.

“Normally, I follow Cristiano Ronaldo a lot - his passion, dedication, and his work has given me a lot of teachings in my career. As I said I follow Ronaldo, I like his aggression. The aggressive style of play helps me a lot to get rid of my fear or tension anything like that. I like to be in the aggressive mode rather than being afraid."

Despite training for the most part of his youth days in Kolkata, Jeet moved to play with the Haryana Table Tennis Association due to personal reasons. The decision was prompted by one of the setbacks he faced in his early days, which the Kolkata-born player would not like to touch at the moment even though he keeps the fire in his belly to prove his detractors wrong.

“You can say that the setbacks also made me a lot hungry and I have to prove people who have brought me down. I have to prove them wrong,” the 23-year-old said.

Jeet currently trains under former national coach Soumyadeep Roy at his academy in Kolkata. Soumyadeep made plans for his tutee to train in Spain with all the Tokyo Olympics-bound players in 2021. Narrating his experiences of meeting with the best athletes in the country, Jeet mentioned:

“After Covid-19, my coach Soumyadeep Roy arranged my training in Spain’s Olympic center in Madrid. I went there and it was awesome like the food, accommodation, and the training atmosphere. All the Olympians of Spain like Carolina Marin trained there. I used to play with Alvaro (Robles, Spain Table Tennis player) also.”

The Haryana paddler further explained how competing against top-class overseas players instilled immense confidence in his game.

“The confidence (went to a different level). I used to play in tournaments also in Germany. The confidence of winning and practicing with high-level players like Alvaro. I used to see that I can compete with them in practice. It gave me the mentality that I can compete with them in the match also. It built a belief system in me.” he added.

Jeet also acknowledged the support from 10-time national champion Achantha Sharath Kamal for his personal insights about the game as it changed his perspective on the game.

“Sharath Bhaiya has helped me a lot like he has given me a lot of tips. I sometimes go to Chennai for training. He organises some camps where he teaches budding players and shares his experience. It helps a lot when you see (the game) from his point of view,” he concluded.

Jeet can only carry on with his hunger and work relentlessly towards his goals and ensure his opponent have to invest enough sweat to earn every point against the boy from Gariahat.