Waited for this moment for long time: Harmeet Desai

The 29-year-old is now India’s No. 1 ranked table tennis player.

Indian paddler from Surat, Harmeet Desai, is slowly climbing up the ladder and has now become India’s top ranked singles table tennis player ahead of the likes of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and veteran Sharath Kamal. The 29-year-old reached his peak form last month when he made the semi-finals of WTT Contender Lagos and subsequently progressed in rankings from 140 into the top 70s.

He had been India’s number three for the past four years, but the effort put in has finally paid off and has started to showcase his true potential. Khel Now got an opportunity to interact with Harmeet Desai before the start of the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) Season 4 and him becoming India’s No. 1 ranked table tennis player.

Recent performances in WTT Contender African and European leg

The 29-year-old got the better off three top 30 singles players in the African and European legs. In that bright run, Harmeet, then WR-134, defeated WR-12 Jang Woojin of South Korea at the WTT Contender Lagos and eventually reached the semi-finals before losing to Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Dimitrij Ovtcharov.

Harmeet Desai iterated, “I was waiting for this moment for a long time and have been working really hard for the past few years. Back of my mind, I always knew this moment will come and it arrived in Nigeria at the World Contender series. In the African and European leg, I beat three top 30 players – in which one was WR-12 from South Korea. Overall, it was quite good and also gave me a lot of confidence for the upcoming meets.

“The one thing that helped me was staying confident and I have been simultaneously working on my mental aspect to keep believing in myself and remove the self-doubts. In the recent past, my approach towards the game has been positive, and my body language has become much better.

“My game overall hasn’t been that bad in the past and I have always been a good player. But somewhere I lacked that belief in myself during the matches or the confidence sometimes goes down. So, I have overcome these challenges in the past month and evolved well as a player. I am an aggressive player and if I show confidence and belief in myself then the opponents get on the backfoot which ultimately goes in my favour.”

Peaking at the right time

With his recent run, the paddler from Gujarat has now jumped ahead to WR-64 and is currently the number one ranked singles player from India. In the next few months there are several competitions lined up – The Asian Championships, followed by the Asian Games and the World Championships next year (an Olympic qualifier team event) and good results in these tournaments should see him rise further in the rankings.

𝗨𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁 🇮🇳Harmeet Desai defeats WR-11 and 3rd seed 🇰🇷 Lim Jonghoon in a 5️⃣-set thriller at the WTT Contender Tunis 2023. 🏓India's 🇮🇳 Desai wins 11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9!#WTTTunis #TableTennis #WTTTunis2023 pic.twitter.com/jYhwtdCttG

— Khel Now (@KhelNow) June 22, 2023

Harmeet Desai quipped, “I’m not thinking much about the major tournaments as there is still time left, rather I want to enjoy my game at the moment. Also, I would like to enjoy every phase of my life even if I’m playing good or bad because you find yourself a lot in both situations. Going ahead, I would like to improve on the mistakes I have committed and better my world ranking in the singles.”

Getting back to number two in singles

Harmeet was the third best Indian paddler for the majority of last four years with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sharath Kamal holding the top two spots. According to the current rankings, Harmeet is ranked 64th and a few good tournaments should see him get to the top 50s and leapfrog his career best rank of WR-60 in the ITTF Rankings.

“I was in the number two spot before and my best world ranking was 60 back in 2018. Now I have come close to that and as I have said earlier currently I just want to enjoy my game. In sports you generally have very good time and vice versa, so on both occasions need to take things gracefully. Both Sarath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran have dropped a bit in the world rankings but shall make a comeback.

“We are pushing each other in a healthy way with good competition all around. On the whole, Indian table tennis is improving which is good.”

Importance of World Rankings

A top eight finish at the ITTF World Championships next year will see India earn a direct Olympic spot in the team event. The men’s team is currently ranked WR-15. Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal are going through a lean patch for the past few months dropping crucial points.

If both paddlers get back to form alongside Harmeet, then India will pose a tough challenge at the Worlds and will also have a reasonable chance of getting through to the quarter-finals.

“India hasn’t qualified in the Olympics in the team events before. This will be the first time India will qualify if we do it. We are looking forward it that all three of us are ranked good and maybe the other ones like Manav Thakkar and Utpal Shah keep on pushing each other so that we gather good points in the upcoming tournaments. We are trying to play in as many meets as possible which gives experience and in particular obtain points as well.”

Preparations ahead of Asian Championships and Asian Games

The WTT action shifts to South America next month – Star Contender Lima and Rio de Janeiro. The Indian contingent will have good tournaments to participate in ahead of the Asiad.

“There were three WTT Contender and one Star Contender tournaments in the past month and now we have the UTT which will be followed by another two Contender tournaments in South America. Post which we will make a comeback to India to participate in an domestic tournament and a week’s training camp ahead of Asian Championships.

“The one-week preparations helps the team to combine and get accustomed for the Asian Championships. After the tournament gets over, we will be back to India again for yet another one-week training camp for the Continental Games. We will be having good amount of time to prepare for Games and to sum it all are going in the right path.”

Shifting flanks from Puneri Paltan TT to Goa Challengers

Harmeet has got off to a great start in UTT season 4, winning all three matches so far in the singles. He blanked compatriots Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manush Shah (3-0) and had a pretty close encounter against state mate Manav Thakkar, ultimately winning 2-1. The 29-year-old has won eight out of the nine games in singles and looks set to lead Goa Challengers into the playoffs.

“The team is very good and I’m happy with the composition of the team. I have known Alvaro Robles for a long time as we practise frequently in Germany and Amalraj Anthony is an experienced paddler having been in the circuit for a long time.

“It’s good to have a team will lots of experience and the inputs from each one helps the team. Overall, I am feeling very happy of representing Goa Challengers this season.”

Role of Coaches

Harmeet Desai for the past few years has been training in Germany regularly and simultaneously played league matches for Loire Nord table tennis club in the French League.

“Overall the coaches in the national camp have been very good. In particular, Fu Yong from China has been helping me a lot in Germany. The improvements in my game in the last four to five years has been because of him and I dedicate all my victories to him.”