A differentiator – The Defenser
Very early on his career, he chose to play the Defenser model in TT at a time when most of the players chose the offensive option. He made a smooth transition to the crucial U16 and the U21phase. He finished in the Top 8 in India in his first year in U16.
While he was thus making swift progress in Table Tennis, he did not lose focus on his studies. Through that entire phase in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he remained proficient in academics. As with most middle class households in Madras, the topic of academics vs sport came up when he went into Class IX, for he had to decide on the future course of action in academics Abhishek remembers that important decision making period in his life “While my father was an engineer and my elder brother too had chosen that path, I had a liking for Science and was keen to pursue Medicine. I joined the Biology group in Class XI.”
The number of tournaments that he was participating increased as did the practice hours. This meant that he was infrequent at school and missed many of the classes in the early phase in Class XI. He was passionate about TT and winning tournaments.Abhishek was in the peak of his powers and seeing a strong rise at the national level in TT. It was a year when he was in national camps under top Indian coaches which involved practicing three hours in the morning and another three in the evening. The defenser model took a lot out of him and he would often be dehydrated. Food poisoning too led him to fall ill in that phase. In addition to practicing and playing tournaments, a lot of his time also went into focusing on physical fitness.
Lets go interest in Medicine
He recounts the call to pull back from his medicinal interest “I was enjoying my time with TT and moving in the right direction. By December of 2003, within six months of joining the Biology Group, I made the shift to Commerce against the advice of everyone at school including the Principal.”
Jaundice and the Dampening Feel of a Sportman
Into Class XII, he played in the Asian Junior Tourney and won his game against Japan, a match that India won 3-2. The victory helped India qualify for the prestigious World Championship. However, Abhishek was struck with Jaundice and his hospitalization meant that he could not play in that tournament. It was the first time he felt a demoralizing and dampening feel in Sport.The time away from the Championship taught him many lessons in life including that of facing challenges at crucial phases in life.
Unruffled by this setback, he came back strong in the next couple of years winning Gold and Silver in the South Asian Junior Tourney. By the time the next World Championship arrived, Abhishek was all set to take part and he beat the World No. 12 in that tourney that took place in Austria.
The three years of his life at Loyola College was a glorious phase for him in TT. There was all the freedom at the college to pursue his sporting interest. He became India’s Number One in U21 and jumped into the World Top 50. It was a period when the powers that be at the senior level began taking notice of him.
The Dilemma of the middle classer
On the academics front, on his amma’s behest he presented a competitive exam and came through. Impressed with his ability to straddle between sport and academics, his Uncle, a CA, took him under his fold as an apprentice in Taxation and Auditing. In 2009, he was faced with the dilemma of choosing between the CA Inter Exam and participating in national and international level tournaments and he chose the former. The TT federation was keen on his participation in the Indian Open but he let go the opportunity and instead spent months preparing for the CA Inter.
It was a sign of times to come and indicated his mindset and the direction he was headed as contrasted with the line of thinking a few years earlier as a teenager.
Under a foreign coach - The Big Transformation in game
Despite his absence from the Indian Open, a pre requisiste, he was chosen for the national camp that year. India had just picked a foreign coach Massimo Costantini (Max to the players) for the first time in 2009 and Abhishek had some of his best time in TT under his mentorship. Max had very early in his stint as the coach identified Abhishek as a potential player for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, especially as a key Defenser. For over 12 months leading up to the Commonwealth games, he worked hard under the guidance of Max and his game shot up dramatically.
2009 also marked the year when Dena Bank sponsored him (Legendary Kamlesh Mehta was the last one sponsored by the Bank to make a big mark in TT). For the first time since Kamlesh Mehta’s win, Abhishek won national level tournaments for Dena Bank. He was into the Top 8 in India and had remained unbeaten in that period. In the camp held in China, he came up against top Chinese players that enriched his experience. His form over the next year that included beating top 50 players in the World led him into the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games.
Commonwealth Bronze under his Parents’ eyes
One of the biggest moments of his life came when he won the match against Nigeria to give India the bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2010. In the previous decade, his parents had not watched him play in any tournament for he had an apprehension that he would be conscious by their presence at his matches“When I was included the team for the Commonwealth games, I invited them for the first time to watch me play and they were delighted at the way the huge crowd at the Commonwealth Stadium in Delhi cheered me when I fought for a medal for the country. It also opened their eyes to the contribution I was making to India as a TT player. Following that, they were even more encouraging in my pursuit to become the best in TT and suggested that I look at the CA Final later.”
In that phase, he moved into the Top 2 in India behind Soumyadeep Roy. He also qualified in the Singles for the World Championship in Rotterdam. Though he did not make the main draw having lost in the preliminary stage, it was a great experience to be part of the big world stage.
And then the hardest decision
He was in his early 20s. Over the previous decade, he had moved from an upcoming sub junior talent to No. 1 in U21 and then to No. 2 in India. Former India left arm spinner Sunil Joshi was impressed with Abhishek’s performance, the progress he making and the potential he held as a TT player and was keen to draft him into BPCL as an officer. It was to be a high paying job and a secure long term one at that. The players recruited on such sports quota were not required to work till the time they played the game. It was a financially secure offer and would have served as an ideal platform to further his international career in TT.
Much to Sunil Joshi’s shock, Abhishek refused to attend the interview citing his focus on the upcoming CA Final Exam. His two contemporaries, who too were called for the interview, took up the offer and continued to play at the top level over the next 5 years for India.
Olympics vs CA?
In that phase, based on his rankings, he had a chance to take a shot at the Olympics. As a teenager, he had been a risk taker having let go of his ambition to become a doctor and had chosen to focus on TT by moving from Bio group to the Commerce group in the middle of his Class XI. But by the time he was into his 20s, he turned conservative. Suddenly the risk taking characteristic deserted him and he chose academics over the possibility of national glory in TT. He became apprehensive about the prospects of a full time career in TT and the life after. Driven by this thought process, he skipped many of the tourneys in 2011-12 and prepared for the CA Final that he cleared in May 2012. He was the only top ranked TT player of the decade to appear for CA. The year that followed his success in CA saw his interest in TT wane for he was caught between the sport and the audit work at his uncle’s firm. He further moved away from TT when he took an Equity Research post at CRISIL. He let go of national tourneys and devoted most of time to his full time corporate role.
The Sporting Spirit back again
A few years later, his passion for TT claimed his spirits again and he was keen to restart the sport that had been an integral part of his life since the time he was 5. He quit CRISIL in 2015 and played TT continuously for six months including professional TT in Sweden. Despite his time away from TT, his inherent talent came to the fore as he won 7 out of the 8 matches. He made a rollicking comeback in 2016 when he won the inter-state championship for the first time. The next year he contributed to TN's victory with a match winning performance against Karnataka. He also played in the newly launched franchise league but it turned out to be his last competitive tournament for he simply could not make time to practice. He simply could not provide the time that was required of a sportsman to remain at the top of his game. The CA practice took precedence over the TT practice and he finally quit competitive game, aged 29.
Had he taken up the PSU offer aged 22, Abhishek may well have become an international star in TT for he was already in the Top5 in India at that time. But as with most middle class families in Madras, he chose academics over sport. Interestingly in this case, his parents were quite supportive and even encouraged him to pursue the sport by postponing the shot at the CA Final examination. But he decided otherwise and came through the CA examination. He was the only one among his contemporaries to choose academics over sport. Through the early part of his TT playing days, there was a huge investment that his parents had to make into the sport. At the time, how long will a TT career hold good always played in the back of his mind and probably prompted his decision to choose CA over TT.
Another middle class boy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/01/ananth-devarajan-eyes-euro-tt-league.html )is a case in point. In 2016, Ananth Devarajan had jumped to No. 4 in the Junior ranking and was eyeing the professional leagues in Europe. His parents were making a huge investment for him in the sport at the time, similar to Abhishek's parents. But the lack of sponsors during the important teenage years meant he could not get the opportunities to play in the competitive overseas league to up his game. And as he has found out, the future in Table Tennis is not guaranteed unless one performs well and is in the top 4 nationally consistently. Ananth too is looking to make his way into the corporate world with TT probably taking a back seat.
At 32, the TT spark remains for Abhishek. With his academic background, he is hoping to get into financial management for sportspersons. While he is now into taxation and audit, his contemporaries who pursued the sport are now Arjuna Awardees. But he has no regrets quitting the game for a sportsman's career is rather fickle and is dependent on the 'current success' at any point of time.He played for the love of the game and enjoyed the two decades in the sport. And that love for the game will never diminish as he seeks to continue his association as a TT coach.