NEW DELHI: It was 2023. Practically two years had handed since India achieved its best-ever tally of seven medals on the Olympic Video games in Tokyo. With new information being set and the nation’s requirements in Olympic sports activities raised, Tokyo 2020 ignited a never-seen-before spark amongst aspiring athletes throughout numerous disciplines, all desirous to make their mark on the nationwide stage and maybe safe a spot within the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Nevertheless, not everybody acquired the possibility to reside that dream. For budding paddler Diya Chitale, the dream of competing in Paris was shattered by an unexpected foot damage.
“That was the 12 months they have been deciding on gamers for the 2024 Olympic Video games. The staff was going to be finalised. However in October 2023, I suffered a stress fracture in my left foot. Consequently, I couldn’t compete in two nationwide tournaments or the nationwide championships. I used to be not totally match,” Diya tells TimesofIndia.com.
Go Past The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!
Quick ahead to January 2025, and Diya Chitale has now change into a extra mature model of herself. That maturity shone by within the closing of the Senior Nationwide Desk Tennis Championships, the place she confronted one in every of India’s greatest and now an Olympian, Sreeja Akula.
Overcoming a 0-2 deficit, Diya staged a outstanding comeback to make it 4-3, clinching her maiden senior nationwide title on the age of 21.
“Turning into the Senior Nationwide Champion was one in every of my goals. I had received on the U-15, U-18, and U-21 ranges, however by no means within the senior ladies’s class. It was one thing I actually needed to realize,” says the paddler, who’s presently recovering from a shoulder damage.
Desk Tennis: No Longer Only a ‘Pastime’
In contrast to many athletes who start their journey with structured teaching from an early age, Diya’s introduction to desk tennis was unplanned. “It was only a pastime,” she admits. “I used to be very lively as a toddler, and through household holidays, we might all the time play desk tennis. I began practising at Khar Gymkhana, however the turning level got here in 2014 once I received silver on the U-12 Nationwide Championships. That’s when my pastime become my ardour.”
Preparation was key for the starlet. Alongside together with her coach, Sachin Shetty, she spent months strategising and tailoring her coaching to counter India’s top-ranked gamers.
“We have been actually well-prepared, each when it comes to gameplay and psychological energy,” she recollects. “At a event just like the Nationals, everybody needs to win, however being mentally robust is simply as essential as bodily talent.”
Born right into a household of docs and lecturers, Diya by no means felt the strain of lecturers, due to her supportive dad and mom, Reshma and Parag Chitale. “They’ve really been my pillars of energy,” she shares. “We by no means had discussions about whether or not I ought to pursue sports activities professionally or focus fully on lecturers. No matter choice I made, they all the time supported me. After I went overseas for long-term coaching, my mother even travelled with me.”
Diya’s college, Arya Vidya Mandir, additionally performed an important function in her journey, offering her with the flexibleness to stability her lecturers with desk tennis. “I used to be fortunate to obtain that assist from my household and everybody round me,” she continues.
‘The Shift within the Indian Mindset’
The rise of desk tennis in India echoes a shift in societal attitudes, based on Diya. She believes the normal emphasis on lecturers over sports activities is step by step altering.
“Earlier, the main target in India was totally on research and lecturers. However I believe that’s actually altering now. Prior to now few years, many individuals have taken up sports activities professionally and made it a profession. I additionally suppose folks at the moment are watching a greater diversity of sports activities past cricket, and different disciplines are getting far more recognition. Take a look at what (PV) Sindhu and Saina (Nehwal) did for badminton. I imagine the identical is occurring in desk tennis, with many Indian gamers making their approach into the highest world rankings,” says the Mumbai-born athlete, who not too long ago accomplished her BBA from Chitkara College.
A Dream of an Olympic Medal
A typical coaching day for Diya is something however odd. “I observe twice a day — as soon as within the morning and as soon as within the night — with every session lasting round two and a half hours, plus two hours of health coaching,” says Diya, a thriller TV collection buff who now barely has time to bask in them.
Her routine additionally consists of psychological wellness workouts and dealing with a sports activities psychologist to keep up her focus.
Her aggressive taking part in type, powered by the paddle floor of plain rubber, units her aside.
“I’m an attacking participant from each my forehand and backhand. There are numerous, many gamers in India who play with completely different sorts of supplies. I favor a plain rubber paddle — no different materials — as a result of it fits my aggressive strategy,” Diya tells TimesofIndia.com.
Whereas mirroring a glimpse of her ambition, she concludes, “My speedy purpose is to interrupt into the highest 50 on the planet rankings. In combined doubles, my companion Manush and I are already within the prime 15, and we wish to break into the highest 10 and compete for a medal at main worldwide occasions. However after all, the final word dream is all the time to win a medal for India on the Olympics.”
ALSO READ: ‘Individuals nonetheless ask, ‘Chess is okay, however what do you actually do?”: Arjuna Awardee Vantika Agrawal
