French paddler ponnu Prithika Pavade continues stellar rise

CHENNAI: Thousands of kilometres separate Puducherry and the Parisian suburb of Le Bourget. Yet, besides the French culture and language, there’s another connecting factor: 21-year-old Prithika Pavade for whom the two places are always intertwined.

Born to Tamil parents who emigrated to France, the youngster’s table tennis story began when her father, Vijayan Pavade, took her to a nearby club in St Dennis. “It was like love at first sight,” Prithika told DT Next.

It started as just juggling the ball; it was only later, when she beat not just her dad but also her brother, that she realised how far she had fallen in love with the sport.

“Oh, my dad was highly competitive. I think he was nice to me when I started. But later when I beat him, it was like a competition – in a nice way. I think I was happier when I beat my big brother, it was quite a big moment. He was really pissed at me, and there was just joy in my face!”

When she was nine, Prithika’s talent took her to the French U-13 Champions, where she realised that there was more than just ‘hope’ in the sport, that it can be her choice of career.

“I never said to myself that I was super talented or prodigy or whatever. I was really trying to focus on ways that I can improve. The people around me keep me grounded and humble. I was really taking it one step at a time, and just enjoyed what I was doing,” the young paddler said.

Later on, in 2023, Prithika was part of a young French side that won its first-ever podium in the European Team Championship in Malmo, Sweden. After edging out Belgium 3-1, France fell in the semi-finals to Romania, by the same score, and despite the third-place finish, they were welcomed with a rave reception, considering that the team was pushing beyond its limits.

“It was a really big moment in France because we as a country never won medals in the European Championship,” the youngster said.

“That was definitely a great moment, it was one of my earliest tournaments as a senior. It gave us a lot of hope that we can beat other teams. Back then, I really didn’t know the limits of the team compared to the other teams.”

Her displays around the world have earned her a place in India’s unique Table Tennis tournament – Ultimate Table Tennis – where the counting system is different. Each tie has five individual games, and every match has three sets, and each set contributes to the team’s scoreboard.

“More than just playing against top players, the league is quite unique in terms of the counting system. Of course, there were top players but I have also played them at different international tournaments. People told me good things about it, and I wanted to experience the league myself. It certainly was a good experience. I was trying to learn and keep building myself for the future.”

At the league, she has faced her kryptonites – India’s Manika Batra and Romanian Bernadette Szocs – and lost both the games. However, the youngster felt that she had more solutions to the questions that Manika posed on the board when compared to previous encounters.

“I lost 3-0 but I really feel like I can beat her if I change a thing or two about my game. I think I had some solution against Manika this time around compared to my previous games against her,” she stated.

Away from the table, you can always see Prithika sporting a French jersey or a Manchester United jersey, showing off her love for one of her sporting idols, Cristiano Ronaldo. “I follow Cristiano [Ronaldo] because of his work ethics and work rate,” Prithika said.

“He’s put football at the centre of his life, and at 41, he is still putting in the effort. At his age to have that kind of dedication and passion, it is just crazy! And also be physically so fit, it is beyond imagination. I’m not even sure if I will be so fit at 41!”

If not football, she’s spending her time away watching another idol of hers, Serena Williams. “For Serena, it is more about the story, like where she’s coming from and her upbringing. It was definitely not easy at that time for her, you know everything she’s achieved is huge.”

Though only 21, Prithika will be representing her country for the third straight time at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In her debut Olympics, aged only 16, she was knocked out pretty early in the tournament by Yana Noskova.

“It was a huge surprise for me, I wasn’t expecting to play at the age of 16. Because of the COVID bubble, there wasn’t any crowd. So it was quite different from what I imagined. But it is still special because it was my first Olympics.”

Then came the 2024 Paris Olympics, where all eyes were on her, thanks to her heroics with the French national team. However, after going past Neda Shahsavari, the youngster ran into another Indian, Manika Batra, who knocked her out in straight games. Despite the loss, Prithika came back with an experience of a lifetime.

“Paris was great but it was quite painful because I couldn’t play as well as I wanted to,” she said.

“But it was still a great experience because I have never experienced something like that in terms of atmosphere. When I entered the court, I had goosebumps, and these things are quite special for us.”

A decade ago, Prithika celebrated beating her elder brother across the table. Today, the girl from a Tamil family in France carries the hopes of an entire nation as it chases a first Olympic medal in women's table tennis. The journey has changed beyond recognition, but the joy of competing remains exactly the same.