Soumyadeep Roy, the former India international and coach of Syndrela Das feels training against experienced men paddlers at his academy has played a crucial role in improving her game. Syndrela Das, the country’s number one ranked paddler in the under-15 category has got a break-through, being the only female paddler from Bengal to represent Indian under-15 women’s squad in the forthcoming Youth World Championship, scheduled to be held in Sweden from 22nd November.

Along with Syndrela, Ankur Bhattacharya, the only men’s paddler from Bengal will be touring to Sweden to play individual events in the Youth World Championship. 

The14-year-old paddler is presently in Austria, participating in the Austrian league and from there she will be going to Hungary and Italy to take part in WTT championships. 

Commenting on Syndrela’s latest success in the national-level and in the WTT competitions revealed, “She came to me at the age of eight. Initially, she used to get defeated in the first round or second round in the competitions. Many people in our table tennis fraternity told me she was mediocre. Still I did not give up. I noticed her passion, determination and tenacity to learn and develop. Today, she is giving results.” 

Under Roy’s guidance Syndrela trains and plays matches against the experienced men paddlers at Roy’s academy (Dhanuka Dhunseri Soumyadeep Poulami Table Tennis Academy) which is instrumental in helping Syendrela to defeat the paddlers even in the under-17 category in recent times. 

Roy has been applying another method to strengthen his student’s psychological strength. He generally does not sit on the coach’s chair in the playing arena when Syndrela participates in the state-level competitions. “It is a kind of psychological treatment. It can happen when she has to play without the coach in a competition, might be abroad or in India. So, she should be psychologically strong enough to deliver her best even in that situation. But in the case of crucial national-level competitions I sit on the coach's chair and offer necessary advice.” 

Roy will be traveling to Hungary to assist his student in the competition there.

However, following Table Tennis Federation of India’s (TTFI) recent rule, personal coaches cannot be present in the competitions when the paddlers represent the country. The country’s table tennis fraternity has not accepted it sportingly as they raise questions on the chief national coach’s contribution to produce a paddler. All the country’s prominent paddlers, starting from Sharath Kamal to Manika Batra, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Ayhika Mukherjee, Sreeja Akula, Manika Batra, Manav Thakkar, Ankur Bhattacharya-are the gifts of their respective personal coaches’ dedication over the years.

When asked, Roy also said, “Yes, this rule should be changed and personal coaches of the respective paddlers should be allowed to be present even in those competitions when the paddlers represent the country.” 

However, Roy also expressed satisfaction about Ankur’s recent performance in Goa stating, “Ankur has huge potential. His future is bright. He has to just maintain his concentration.”