Since long time I wanted to write this down. Finally I am doing it. Again it is coming at 3AM, another 3AM post. May be I should make a label for it...hehe. This time I was playing table tennis till this time.
It all started in school 7th grade. We had a table tennis tournament going on. I was not even included in it, don't know why, but I stayed and watched the game. I had a liking for it since then. After I watched a couple of games, they gave me kinda wild card entry and I played a game. Somehow I won it, I played 2 more and I won them too. Eventually I was the champion, against everyone's expectations, a boy who was not even considered good enough to play in the tournament had won the tournament. Rising and triumphing against all odds has occurred more than once in my life. Getting on campus placement in Infosys was also the same, and many such instances.
After that victory I got a table tennis bat upgrade. Earlier I had a very simple bat worth 45 bucks. After I won, dad bought me an expensive Belbot bat. It was a wonderful bat, and I used it all the way till my Infy days.
I remember how my game was then, I always had a very defensive game. When I won the tournament in 7th grade, my only focus and complete energy was to just receive the ball and hit back, no fancy chops or smashes, just keep it simple, and be patient. Even now I can say, I have that quality, and I have developed a few more. I do not want to boast myself, but now I have a very wide range of shots, my biggest strength is still in defense, I can return smashes, most of the time when it is unexpected by the opponent. Also hitting smashes as a surprise element works well for me. However the thing which I believe works the most is the thinking part of the game.
I think and strategies a lot when I play. A lot of thought goes into my each service, especially when playing doubles. I try to win maximum point in my serve, studying the opponent position, his style of play and the previous serve done, I make sure I put in the best serve. Also another thing I have become good at is placing the ball, it helps a lot when returning serves in doubles.
To be frank I do not have a very good and frequent smash game, but I have a lot of other things to compensate for it. I can proudly say I can hold my own, and have done that against every player I have played till now. I have lost, I have learned, but I have fought, and I have persisted.
Another good quality I have developed is smart usage of table tennis bats. There are various types of bats, some heavy,some light, each with it's pros and cons. I use appropriate bat as per situation and opponent. Even today, after office when I went to play table tennis with my good friend Akshath I was using a heavy bat. Then another player came, I was not doing well against him, I realized the reason and immediately switched to lighter bat. I could not save that game due to high lag, but I did win the next 2. He is a pretty good player, and I can proudly count that as another accomplishment in my table tennis career.
