One of the first things you’ve done is seeing that the Indian contingent (Olympic squad) travels as a team for World Table Tennis (WTT) events. Is travelling as a team going to be a regular affair even after the Olympics?
Massimo Costantini: Of course. it has to be like this. I’ve said before that I want India to be one of the top 4 countries in the world of table tennis. We have to act like a team and the team is strong when we are united. We will have great individual results at tournaments and that’s part of the dynamics. But when the team travels together, practices together, and train each other, it’s bound to help. Maybe we go as a team or with certain players but we need to be together.
We’ve seen at team tournaments like the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games, and the World Championships that the players are individually committed to helping the team to do well. I have the task and commitment to lead this. Since everyone is on the same page, I decided to come back. I genuinely believe that the sport can really be developed to a great extent here and I want to do my part.
Each of the top players has individual coaches who generally travel with them for competitions. Now for a head coach to come in, do you reckon there will be a certain resistance?
Massimo Costantini: We won’t be the first country to have this kind of setup. As long as we have a common view. I’m very fine with that. The individual coaches are not our opponents. If we start thinking they are our opponents, it will damage the player. Look at China and Japan. They have the same situation. Countries like Korea and Germany don’t have this setup and France have many coaches in their panel. What’s important is that we have a common goal. We have to come up with some internal rules and we are working on that.
India’s Paris team selection raised questions as Ayhika Mukherjee, who beat the Chinese World No. 1 Sun Yingsha at the World Championships, wasn’t selected in the team. Do you think India missed a trick there by choosing Archana Kamath over Ayhika?
Massimo Costantini: The selection wasn’t based on any choice. The criteria and parameters were defined a year before. It was not a question of choice. The criteria were objective, not subjective. The Chinese may be more scared of Ayhika rather than Archana but the selection committee cannot help that.
Look at Patrick Franziska. He’s Germany’s No. 1 player but he didn’t make the cut for Paris because he achieved that ranking after the selection took place. Imagine the No. 1 player in the country isn’t part of the team. He’s super upset and who wouldn’t be, but even they were clear that there was a criteria defined and the team was selected accordingly. If you have made a decision based on criteria, it is like it is. I’m sorry for Ayhika and G Sathiyan but I still need them. If we do well, it will be because of them too.
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Our women paddlers have raked up impressive results against top opponents. The use of pimpled rubber has helped. What’s your take on the use of pimples?
Massimo Costantini: I’ve always said that pimples can be a big surprise. Using rubbers with a different style can cause a major problem against players who use normal rubbers. The simple fact is that players who regularly play with normal rubbers aren’t used to playing against pimples. It’s like, if there are 20 right-handed players practising, they will struggle against a left-hander.
95% of the players play with the same style. Then there are 5% of players who can change the rule of the rally by destabilising the way of the play. Top players not having a habit of playing with pimples is tactically an advantage for those who play with it.
Where Indian women made history be it at the Commonwealth Games or the Asian Games, it was because we had an explosive mix of players using pimples. Now its importance is greater because the Chinese are scared of playing against pimples. The challenge for us is to use it differently. Look at how Wang Manyu lost to Manika at Saudi Smash. Manyu had beaten Manika just a week earlier in Macao but Manika was able to change her game and beat her just a week later. She could do so because she switched up her play with her defensive pimpled rubber.
