Overview

The atmosphere was tense and the players had a certain glimmer of determination in their eye after Neel Joshi, captains of the boys’ team finished his pre training team address.

Training till now has been moderate with the team training regularly for 2 hours a day over the past few weeks, but this number is expected to increase as the coach is expected to arrive next week. The coach will regulate the training process with more focussed work out sessions and a scheduled training routine.

This year, there has been a slight shift from the regular pattern in table tennis events. The events comprise of 2 categories: team events and mixed doubles. While the team events used to comprise of 2 singles and a doubles match, the double match has been replaced by reverse singles this year, to conform to the general format more commonly followed around the world.

Past Performance

The team has had a good year with a gold in the last BOSM and a stellar track record in outstation events. In IIT Delhi, the boys’ team won a silver with Neel as the player of the tournament while the mixed doubles team won the Gold. The team won many accolades at the BITS Dubai Sports Meet as well.

Recruitments

The recruitment process takes place over three rounds; the first two rounds filter out the players who show potential. These players are then called for a week of practice at the end of which the third round is held where the team is finalised. The turnout for boys’ team trials this year was impressive, almost doubling last year’s turnout of around sixty people. This year, a student from the MBA programme was also recruited for the team.

Captain’s Interview

Neel Joshi, the captain of the boy’s team has been playing table tennis for over ten years. His parents were keen on him being involved in a sport and he found that table tennis was what stuck with him. After he started playing, he felt like he had found his place and the success he has achieved as only boosted his confidence. His sports resume is impressive – he has won multiple district level tournaments, represented Pune in state level tournaments, and played on a national level five times.

The captaincy hasn’t affected his game – as he says, winning is winning, and being a captain doesn’t change that. His team hasn’t faced any major issues in the lead up to BOSM, since table tennis isn’t a very demanding sport as far as equipment goes. One issue that they do face is the flooring which is in poor condition, and leads to players occasionally slipping while running. The Institute, however, is quite supportive and this issue is expected to get resolved soon.

The captain and the team seem well prepared and are juiced up for this years’ BOSM. The new additions to the team have further improved their prospects and their dedication will hopefully help them succeed in BOSM.