Practicing at home against a Power Pong Omega Robot helped Divyanshi to gain control
Bringing a table tennis board home during the COVID-19 phase probably became the most valuable investment, as Divyanshi defeated three Chinese players on the way to winning India’s first gold medal in 36 years at the Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships. India won a gold medal at the under-15 event in 1989, when the tournament was held in New Delhi. On Tuesday in Tashkent, the paddler from Kandivali in Mumbai defeated China’s Zhu Qihi 4-2 in the final to continue her rapid rise in the sport. The gold medal comes a few months after Divyanshi was thrown at the deep end in Chennai, where she made her senior debut at the WTT Star Contender event at the age of 14. In the first round, she defeated World No.64 and Olympian Giorgia Piccolin of Italy. She also won a doubles silver medal at the 2023 ITTF World Youth Championships, along with WTT Contender Youth titles at under-13, under-15, and under-17 categories. After the TT board arrived at her home, Divyangshi used to practice for nearly five hours every day with her sister and father. But at her first Nationals, Divyanshi lost early, prompting her father to try to find out what went wrong. He was told that it would take 3-4 years for his daughter to reach an elite level. “When she lost in qualifying, I asked the coach how we could get better. I was told that it would take a long time, and things don’t move so fast. I couldn’t digest this and took matters into my own hands,” says Rahul Bhowmick, her father, while speaking to the Indian Express. Rahul, who is the regional CEO of ISS Global Forwarding, decided to bring a Power Pong Omega Robot home to help develop Divyanshi’s game. “One of the things that I noticed in the success of Chinese paddlers was their ball control. So, we used the robot to work on specific scenarios where she was having trouble. You can program the robot to a high-spin, high-loop setting and then hit thousands of such balls in practice. The key was to repeat it time and again until she perfected it,” explained Rahul.
Anthony believes East Bengal might go for a residential project with potential young girls in the future
Sudeep Pakrashi: Anthony Andrews, the coach whose guidance steered East Bengal women to clinch the elite IWL in their debut as well as the state women’s football league, Kanyasree Cup, believes East Bengal might start a residential academy with potential girl footballers in the future. East Bengal club has started a two-week scouting and training program at Kalyani and has already spotted 15 local girls below the age of 20 years, who, according to the coach, look promising. Anthony, when asked about the program, revealed, “If I continue with the club, I have plans to convince them to start a residential training program, and as East Bengal management is passionate and sincere about the development of women’s football, I believe they will try to materialize the plans.” Anthony added, “Producing our own quality footballers should be the ultimate purpose, and in a bid to fulfill the purpose, this scouting and training program is being conducted. I have found a few young girls already who are potential.” Commenting on the team’s opposition in the preliminary round matches in the AFC Champions League, Anthony explained, “Hong Kong is a tough side. The Cambodian team should also be enthusiastic as they organized the women’s league after two years.” Looking forward to strengthening the team, the club is likely to rope in five foreign players before the AFC Champions League. Ugandan striker Fazila Ikwaput, who scored 24 goals in 12 matches in the elite IWL for Gokulam FC last season, has already been confirmed.
Hong Kong’s Kitchee SC and Cambodia’s Phnom Penh Crown FC in East Bengal’s group in the AFC Women’s Champions League
East Bengal FC has been placed in Group E of the upcoming AFC Women’s Champions League, following the draw held in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. The Red and Gold Brigade will face Hong Kong-based Kitchee SC and Cambodian Women’s League side Phnom Penh Crown FC in the preliminary stage. The Anthony Andrews-coached team qualified for the continental tournament’s preliminaries by winning the 2024–25 Indian Women’s League (IWL). East Bengal was placed in Pot 1 for the draw, alongside Kaohsiung Attackers FC (Chinese Taipei), Stallion Laguna FC (Philippines), and the College of Asian Scholars (Thailand). The Kolkata side will travel to Cambodia to participate in the Preliminary Stage, which will be held in a centralized round-robin format from August 25 to 31, 2025. Nineteen clubs from across the continent will play the Preliminary Stage, which features five groups – four groups of four teams each, and one group consisting of three clubs. The five group winners will advance to the Group Stage, where they will join clubs from the top seven AFC Member Associations in the AFC Women’s Club Competition Rankings 2024-25 – Melbourne City FC (Australia), Suwon FC Women (Korea Republic), Tokyo Verdy Beleza (Japan), defending champions Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC (China), Ho Chi Minh City Women’s FC (Vietnam), Bam Khatoon FC (IR Iran), and a to-be-determined club from the United Arab Emirates.
