From freezing temperatures of minus 16 degrees Celsius to hot conditions of 31 degrees in Surat, Gujarat, Ladakh’s table tennis players have embarked on a tough exposure trip of over 2,200 kilometres to the 86th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships that began on Sunday (January 19).
Also read | Exclusive interview with table tennis legend Sharath Kamal
A 10-member team, comprising five men and women each from Ladakh, is hoping to learn from top stars of the game and return home with memories worth a lifetime. One of those is clicking selfies with table tennis legend Sharath Kamal on the opening day of the championships.
No coach, proper facilities
Ladakh lacks proper facilities for table tennis, and the side is in Surat without a coach. But that is not a deterrent to nurture their dreams.
Also read: Table Tennis Nationals preview
“We are very happy to be in Surat for the senior nationals. Back home, we don’t have proper facilities to play the game. We have only six to seven tables. There is no indoor stadium, and we practice at a multi-purpose indoor arena that is yet to be inaugurated. We get to train for only a few hours a day,” Padma Stanzin, Ladakh men’s team player and the state’s captain-cum-manager, told The Federal in Surat.
For Stanzin and his teammates donning the green jerseys, playing table tennis began as a hobby in school/college and later they took it seriously.
Nusrat Fatima, who is participating in her second table tennis nationals, took up the sport seven years ago when in college. The 29-year-old has done her Master’s in Economics and was until recently a teacher at school but had to quit the job due to personal reasons.
‘Ladakh as UT helped us’
“With temperatures of minus 16 degrees Celsius, we could not prepare properly for the nationals. While at training, our hands would freeze. Then, we would take a break, get our bodies warm using heaters, and resume practice. It was really tough. And, here we are in Surat in hot conditions. I am very happy to come to Gujarat,” Fatima shared her experience with The Federal.
The 29-year-old Fatima had given up on coming to Surat as it was snowing a day before they were to head for the nationals. Luckily, conditions got better and their flight could take off on January 17 to reach New Delhi, and from there to Surat.
According to Stanzin and Fatima, Ladakhi players are able to participate in national events thanks to the 2019 decision of the Union government to make Ladakh a Union Territory, after the abrogation of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
The former state of J&K was reorganised as the new Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the new Union Territory of Ladakh on October 31, 2019. Prior to that, Ladakh was part of the state of J&K.
“Thanks to the government, Ladakh became a Union Territory in 2019. Since then we are able to play in national tournaments. Earlier, when Ladakh was part of Jammu and Kashmir, most of the state players were from Jammu alone,” Fatima says.
Players’ plea to govt
Despite getting to play in tournaments, there are several challenges for Ladakhis.
“Our immediate request to the government, state association, and Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) is to provide us with a good coach. That will go a long way in getting more and more youngsters into the sport. Also, there is a need for proper infrastructure. At the moment, table tennis is not popular in Ladakh, it is ice hockey and football that youngsters prefer,” Fatima adds.
Among the current lot in Surat, Stanzin Chitsog can be termed as the most experienced, being at her third national championships. The 23-year-old, who is a political science graduate, says she is learning with every tournament she plays and craves for a good coach.
Of the 10 Ladakh players for the Surat nationals, six are from Kargil, and the remaining four are from the capital Leh, where the training takes place.
Popularity of cricket stars in Ladakh
When you ask Ladakh’s table tennis players who their role models are, from Indian sports, the three big names that come up are – cricketers MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Stanzin admits he is a big Dhoni fan, and keenly follows the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star during the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“We are now blessed to watch IPL matches live on our mobile phones, which was not the case earlier. I love watching MS Dhoni play. Cricket is among the popular sports in Ladakh,” says Stanzin.
As the championships got underway in Surat, Ladakh’s players’ main target was not about winning but learning from the game, and sharing those experiences with the youngsters back home, and inspiring many more to take up the sport.
Ladakh team for 86th Senior TT Nationals in Surat
Men: Padma Stanzin, Sonam Chosphel, Jigmet Rinchen, Arshad Latif, Maysam-e Tammar.
Women: Shabana Batool, Archo Syeda Banoo, Nusrat Fatima, Nasireen Fatima, Stanzin Chitsog.
Comments are closed.