“Practice like you’ve never won, Perform like you’ve never lost”
Soumyajit Ghosh is 24years old and is the youngest Indian player to qualify for the London, 2012 Olympics. Belonging to a small town in West Bengal, Siliguri, Soumyajit is now a world class level champion in making India is proud of his achievements. He also became the youngest national champion at the age of 19, when he defeated Sharath Kamal in the 74th National Table Tennis Championship. Soumyajit’s father, Hari Sankar Ghosh who works for the local municipal corporation and his mother, Mina Ghosh who is a homemaker can now proudly say their son is among the top 100 table tennis players according to the world ranking. In India he trains at the NIS base in Patiala under coach Bhawani Mukherjee. When overseas, he trains under coach Peter Karlsson in Falkenberg from Sweden. Recently, Soumyajit Ghosh bagged both the singles and doubles gold in the Seamaster 2017 ITTF Challenge Chile Open and in the process, he became the third Indian to clinch the singles gold at the event.
Well there are too many things to know about this young talent. So, lets get in a conversation with Soumyajit Ghosh:
1. Soumyajit, who inspired you to get into the field of Table Tennis?
As we know even though Siliguri is a small town it is pretty famous for Table Tennis. There are quite a number of talented players there like Mantu Ghosh (Arjuna Award Winner), Amit Dam who is coaching us has brought out wonderful T.T. players in Siliguri. So, basically it was my parents who wanted me to join Table Tennis at the first place. So, they made me join Siliguri Table Tennis Academy for T.T. training and gradually I developed high interest in this field.
2. You are presently India’s best Table Tennis player and world rank 63 if I am right. So how does it feel to get this title? Did you expect to reach this point at your early stages?
No, actually ranking in the field of sports changes every month, its obvious cause in this field nothing is constant as there are too many ups and downs. Yes, I was at position 1 six months ago but presently I am at rank 3 in India and rank 90 worldwide. I was highly honored and it was a very big responsibility to carry this title as India’s Rank 1 Table Tennis player. Even now it is a very big pressure on me, the responsibility of keeping up everyone’s hopes and expectations and the pressure to get even better. But this is the kind of pressure I enjoy. And I am trying my best to reach the first position again.
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3. How has your family supported you through out to reach this position in your career?
The support I got from my family right from the beginning is incomparable, even presently the way they are supporting me is beyond expectations. If it wouldn’t be for them, at the first place I wouldn’t be in this position today.They have always been there for me, no matter what the situation be. I feel myself to be very blessed and lucky to have them as my parents.
4. Sports have a lot of struggles and competition. Tell us about the struggles that you’ve faced to reach this point!
Struggles are must in every field. It’s not just a specific that in sports we face struggles. Nothing comes easy in our daily life as well. We have to struggle in every phase of our lives and achieve our goals. Something which is very must is discipline. Discipline and hard work are the keys to face any competition and struggle and you can beat the mall with these two mantras. For me this routine started right at the age of 15, when I got the golden opportunity to go to Sweden. That was the main time I actually had to work really hard cause I was somewhere I had to represent my country which was a really big responsibility.
5. Coaching plays a very important role in sports. Since you’re from a small town Siliguri did you get the right kind of coaching? Tell us something about the coaching that you’ve received.
Coaching is very Important in every sport, I believe. Siliguri might be a small town but it is very famous for Table Tennis. So, yes I have received the best coaching. I started off my Table Tennis coaching with very experienced and talented coaches like Amit Dam, Shubroto Roy and the Arjuna Award Winner Mantu Ghosh. Currently I am coaching under Soumyadeep Roy. I am indeed very lucky to have the training of world champion Peter Karlsson.
6. You have a lot of achievements indeed. Mention some of your best ones!
- The biggest achievement was receiving Arjuna Award for Table Tennis.
- 2010 : won mixed doubles bronze medal at the World Junior Championships in Bahrain.
- 2013 : youngest national champion ever by beating six time champion Sharath Kamal in the finals of the 74th National Table Tennis Championships, followed by winning the singles event at the Inter Institutional Table Tennis Championships in Dharwad, Karnataka. won the singles event in the U-21 category at the Brazil Open in Santos.
- 2014: At the Lusofonia Games, 2014 in Goa, gold medal in mixed doubles and men’s team event as well as a silver and bronze in men’s singles and doubles respectively. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Glasgow reached the quarter finals of both men’s singles and doubles.
- 2016: On 14 April 2016, Soumyajit Ghosh qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
- 2017: won the ITTF Challenge Seamaster Chile Open singles event, by beating compatriot Anthony Amalraj in the final.
7. Do you think you’ve already reached the highest point of your career or do you have more to learn and achieve?
I definitely still have a lot to learn. My achievements haven’t come to an end yet. I have a lot more to achieve. My ultimate aim is to receive a medal in Olympics and reach Top 20 in world Table Tennis.
8. Who’s your personal favorite in this field and why?
There are too many talented people in this field but my personal favorite among them is Jan-Ove Waldner, he’s a Swedish former table tennis player. Popularly known as the “Mozart of Table Tennis” he is regarded as one of the greatest Table Tennis player of all time. His extraordinary talent and competitiveness is what I have always admired the most.
9. Any special memory you would like to share with us related to your career?
Table Tennis has given me too many memories but the one worth remembering throughout my life is the time my dad suddenly called me and said that I won the Arjuna Award. It was something unbelievable and beyond expectations. It was when I got a call from the media informing me about the award was when I had to believe. I was overwhelmed and that feeling is inexpressible.
10. Any message you would like to give to all young aspiring athletes out there?
The only thing I would like to say is be disciplined in whichever sport you are involved in. Discipline and hard work are the two necessary requirements and practice can make you a perfect sportsperson.
