[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]The ITTF-Asian Cup will take place this coming weekend in Ahmedabad, India, the city where I was born and spent the first 6 years of my life before moving to Fremont. China’s Liu Shiwen is the only player to have won the title on 4 occasions and will be defending her title. No other player has won more than two titles.
India is giving table-tennis more importance after their success in the Commonwealth Games. India has good, young players that are training full-time in Europe and have beaten top world-class players. They had a successful Ultimate Table Tennis League this summer featuring many of the world’s best players. Table-tennis has always been a popular activity in India but just nowhere near the playing level of China. Now India has many world-class players that can compete evenly with top world-class players except maybe the very top Chinese.
I’m not sure if I ever would have played and been passionate about table-tennis if I wasn’t living in Ahmedabad at the age of 5. That’s when I saw my Dad’s trophy and high-quality paddle and a spark was created that stayed with me the rest of my life. Then I moved to the US at age of 6, played garage ping-pong like many Americans do at the age of 8, and found out about coaching through a newspaper article about a Union City club and coach at the age of 10. From then on, table-tennis has been a central part of my life.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
