It is hard to find a table tennis player in Bengal or even in the country who before stepping on to the board to start playing in any major competition has to keep in mind that he must have to win the title or at least become runner-up to grab a formidable amount of prize money. Otherwise, it could be extremely difficult for his father to continue buying rubbers, especially the paddler uses on the forehand.

Ankur Bhattacharya is such a name in the Indian table fraternity at the moment. The 16-year-old paddler from Bengal, keeping in mind the burden, has been winning titles continuously in different national ranking competitions for the last couple of months.

He won titles in the junior age group in zonal ranking competitions. Even in the men's category before his exit from the last four-stage, Ankur had a magnificent show when he outclassed India's top-ranked men's paddler Anirban Ghosh in the quarter-final. Then after having conquered Bhopal by winning the individual title in Khelo India Table Tennis Ankur once again exhibited a scintillating performance by clinching gold medals with Under-19 and Under-17 boys, an individual bronze medal in Under-19 singles, silver medal in Under-19 doubles and also gold medal in Under-17 boys in the Inter-State Youth and Junior National Championship held in Chennai. The paddler earned Rs 78 thousand from prize money in Chennai to ensure he could continue purchasing expensive rubbers.

Interestingly, Ankur who trains under the tutelage of his father and coach Anshuman Bhattacharya at their residence in Rajarhat, on the outskirt of Kolkata, has started receiving offers from the country's other table tennis academies already. Anshuman speaking to Parallel Sports on Friday divulged, "Ankur is already receiving offers from the country's other academies from Delhi, Goa, and Gurgaon. Even I got offers from an academy against a worthy amount of monthly salary. The academies have got modern infrastructure which is highly needed for the development of Ankur's game especially when he will be playing in the men's category. Still, I am not willing to join there with Ankur. If I join any academy then I have to maintain their teaching style and their rules and regulations which I do not have the intention to follow."

So, Anshuman wants to appeal to the government and a few other organizations for financial assistance so that he can develop infrastructure at his home training center. Anshuman said, "Ankur needs a well-equipped gym to strengthen his power and speed when he will have to compete at the men's level. Naturally, I need space and financial assistance to develop this. Now, Ankur's earnings from two scholarships (Khelo India and Oil India) are around Rs 27 thousand and the cost for his rubbers go to nearly Rs 70 thousand. It becomes tough for me to provide the rubbers continuously. So I am planning to appeal to the sports ministry and a few other private organizations also for financial help."