Last week, 20-year-old Yashaswini Ghorpade was playing some of her best table tennis at the World Table Tennis (WTT) Singapore Smash. She won three matches before losing in the Round of 64 in women’s singles (that made her jump six places to World No. 82) and was gearing up for her women’s doubles Round of 16 match when she received a rather unexpected email from the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
A bit sore after missing out on a place to Ayhika Mukherjee in the 3-member Indian women’s squad for the Asia Cup beginning on February 19, she was trying to put her chin up and get over it, concentrating on doing well in Singapore. She had made her mind up to go play the WTT Feeder in Cappadocia which would run parallel to the Asia Cup.
The email changed everything for her, though. With Manika Batra picking up a niggle and ruling herself out of the premier continental tournament, TTFI informed Yashaswini that she would travel to Shenzhen, China for the tournament.
Yashaswini’s coach Anshuman Roy says top players struggle against her because they don’t have sparring partners with a similar playing style.
“Though I feel very sad for Manika di, I’m extremely excited to be picked for my first major senior event. All the top players in Asia play in this tournament and it was my goal to make it to the squad for it. I was extremely disappointed earlier when I wasn’t selected,” Yashaswini told The Indian Express from Bengaluru on Saturday.
The Asia Cup is a singles tournament that also acts as a qualifier for the World Championships. Sreeja Akula, Ayhika, and Yashaswini make up the Indian women’s squad while Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar, and Harmeet Desai will play in the men’s event.
Playing style
Similar to Manika and Sreeja, Yashaswini too uses long pimples on her backhand but unlike them, she also uses it to attack. Manika twiddles her bat mid-rally and attacks with the fast rubber while Sreeja steps around to attack using forehand topspin. Yashaswini doesn’t have to twiddle – though she can – nor does she have to step around unless absolutely necessary.
It’s not easy to attack with the long pips. It requires tremendous control as you are basically returning it with the opposite spin. Manika and Sreeja use it primarily to frustrate opponents before launching an attack with their fast rubber. Yashaswini too uses it to defend and frustrate the opponent but by attacking with long pips she can completely surprise her opponent.
Story continues below this ad
Yashaswini’s coach Anshuman Roy says top players struggle against her because they don’t have sparring partners with a similar playing style.
It was only a little over a year ago that Yashaswini transitioned from juniors to seniors. She was the top-ranked Indian in juniors and seventh in the world, but the senior category was a whole new challenge for her.
“Even in India, there are hardly any players who attack with long pips. Top Asian countries have players who can spar with long pips but they too mostly defend with it. I can’t think of anyone apart from Yashaswini who attacks with it. All the credit goes to her as you need ultimate control to play this kind of game. She never loses focus and can calmly defend against the most ferocious attack,” Roy said.
It was this calmness that saw her being instrumental in Goa Challengers winning the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) last season and it’s the reason why she remains unnerved against top players.
In top form
It was only a little over a year ago that Yashaswini transitioned from juniors to seniors. She was the top-ranked Indian in juniors and seventh in the world, but the senior category was a whole new challenge for her. She says she remained focused on just one goal: making it to and then cementing her place in the national team.
Story continues below this ad
“Having that target makes me want to give my all every day. There’s so much competition to get into the team that I know I have to improve my game and evolve as a player constantly,” she said.
In all fairness, she’s had a brilliant start to her senior career. She reached the final of the WTT Doha Feeder, the quarterfinal of the WTT Lagos Contender, and the Round of 16 at the WTT Tunis Contender.
In her quest to get into the national team, Yashaswini decided early on that she would play in all the national tournaments as the selection criteria gives equal weightage to national and international rankings (Unless in World top-50).
“I won the Kangra and Bengaluru national ranking tournaments while reaching the final in Goa and semifinal in Surat to be currently No. 2. I make it a point to not miss national tournaments so that sometimes even means prioritising them over international events or trying to play both. I’m glad it has worked for me,” she said.
Story continues below this ad
She sure has come a long way for someone who only took up the sport as a kid because her parents suggested she should start some physical activity since she used to fall sick often.
The future
India coach Massimo Costantini has often spoken about how India must try to be among the top three in Asia and how using the long pimples to its full advantage could help. And Yashaswini, with her different use of the long pips, seems ready to take on the might of Asia.
