Sutirtha sets eyes on Olympic berth

MUMBAI: There's very little to separate India's top women's paddlers these days and that's one reason why Sutirtha Mukherjee's triumph at the UTT 81st National Table Tennis Championships in Hyderabad on Sunday was special.
It was the 24-year-old's second national crown - she won her first at Ranchi in 2017- and brought some joy after the heartbreak India suffered recently, failing narrowly to qualify for the team event of the Tokyo Olympics.
"I am really happy with the way I performed at the Nationals," Sutirtha, who beat Krittwika Sinha Roy in the final, told TOI on Monday. "Barring some difficulty in the quarterfinals, I had a smooth run," she added. Prior to the Nationals, Sutirtha had played a pivotal role in keeping India's hopes alive at the world team qualification tournament in Portugal, beating Romania's World No. 19 Bernadette Szocs.
"It's really disappointing that we could not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in the team event after coming so close. But, we can still qualify for the singles event, and I will have to continue improving to get there," said Sutirtha, who is currently ranked 157 in the world. So, what all does she need to do to give herself a chance at booking a ticket to Tokyo? "After the nationals win, I will be ranked No. 1 in the country when the new list is out. I will have to continue to improve and will be playing tournaments in Portugal and Hungary in the coming weeks. I need to better my rankings in order to qualify," she explained.
The girl from Kolkata has come a long way after the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had suspended her and three other players from Bengal for allegedly fudging their age records in 2015. "It was a difficult phase in life for me. But, I was lucky to have the full support of my parents and coaches. They kept encouraging me to stay motivated and not let negative thoughts affect me. I remember, I did not miss a single day's training even in that period. I kept working on my fitness and won the Nationals once I was back on the circuit," she recalled.
Despite both the men's and women's teams not making the cut for the Tokyo team event, Indian table tennis is witnessing a bit of a high and Sutirtha credited the role that Ultimate Table Tennis, the country's premier league, is playing. "We get to interact and compete with some of the world's best. We spend time with them learning from each other and that has definitely helped," she said.