Ultimate Table Tennis league: Foreign players can be beaten, says Harmeet Desai

The Ultimate Table Tennis league was devised to produce and capture moments like what Harmeet Desai did on Saturday. In what will be one of his most cherished wins in his career, Harmeet, ranked 79 in the world, caused one of the biggest upsets of the league when he beat World No. 20 Panagiotis Gionis in a comprehensive 11-6, 11-10, 11-9 win.

“It is the first time I am beating a top-20 player,” said a beaming Harmeet. “ I started off well. I played against him earlier in the Polish league. I used that experience in this match. I studied his game well and I was prepared to play him this time,” he added. 

Harmeet revealed the strategy he used to beat Gionis. “I am good at defence. But being a defensive player, he is good at attack also. So, I had to stop his attack and make him move in and out. Gionis likes it when he gets the ball in his area, so I made him move a lot. That helped me clinch the game,” he explained. 

The Gujarat player said the win is a confidence booster. “It feels great. This will help me believe in myself that I can win against better players because he is one of the best in Europe. It gives me faith to take the next step in my career. The biggest takeaway is the experience of playing with them (foreign players) in the same team. We are living and practising with them. At the end of the day, they are not super heroes. They are humans. We can beat them,” he quipped.

Harmeet said the players will get used to the rule of serving within 10 seconds after previous rally has been completed. “We were prepared for that rule. In fact, it was quite tiring. I honestly didn’t get much time between rallies. In other tournaments, we get time to take a break and come back after a point. Even in the third game, I lost focus because my breathing was too high. We would get used to all these eventually,” he noted. 

The Indian paddler hoped the sport would take giant strides in the country with the advent of leagues. “It (the league) is similar to that in Europe. The only difference is in the duration. In Europe, we have eight-month long leagues. It helps the players a lot and it will surely help change the face of Indian table tennis in the coming years,” he added.