Human Interest |
Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Chennai, IND |
Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India: India |
General Interest |
Memorable sporting achievement |
Beating multiple Indian national champion Sharath Kamal during the 2012 National and Inter-State Championships in Lucknow, India. (rediff.com, 07 Sep 2017) |
Famous relatives |
His father, Arputharaj Anthony, played table tennis competitively. His sisters, Mary Benita and Mary Judith have played table tennis at state level in India. (thehindu.com, 06 Sep 2014) |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
"I picked it up looking at my father, who was a table tennis player. He was my childhood coach and I owe a huge part of my success to the training given by him." |
General Interest |
Hero / Idol |
Indian table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta. (ultimatetabletennis.in, 01 Jul 2017) |
Ambitions |
To break into the world top 100 rankings. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, 29 Jul 2017) |
Awards and honours |
In August 2017 he received the Arjuna Award from the Indian government's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in recognition of his sporting achievements. The Arjuna Award is the highest sporting award in India. (ultimatetabletennis.in, 23 Aug 2017)
In 2012 he was named Sportsperson of the Year by the Calcutta Sports Journalists' Club [CSJC]. (cricketcountry.com, 19 Apr 2012) |
Sport Specific Information |
Name of coach |
N Ravichandran [national], IND |
Handedness |
Right |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
He began playing table tennis at age seven under the guidance of his father, who also played the sport competitively. At age 10, he joined the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board [PSPB] Table Tennis Academy in Ajmer, India, to train at elite level. |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete, Utilities Worker |
Languages |
English, Hindi, Tamil |
General Interest |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"I always like to keep myself calm before the match, because in table tennis if you have a good mind, you win. Physically and technically I am very strong but the mental part is very important. We, as Indians, always forget about the mental part." (ultimatetabletennis.in, 23 Aug 2017) |
Other information |
NATIONAL FIRST In April 2017 paired with Soumyajit Ghosh they became the first Indian men's doubles pair to win a title on either the ITTF Challenge Series or ITTF World Tour. They marked the achievement at the 2017 Challenge Chile Open in Santiago, Chile. (ittf.com, 30 Apr 2017)
OCCUPATION He joined the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India under a sports quota programme that allows him to train and compete internationally. (sportstarlive.com, 02 Aug 2017)
FAMILY TABLE TENNIS ACADEMY His father, Arputharaj Anthony, runs the Amala Annai Table Tennis Academy for underprivileged children in Chennai, India. Amalraj and his sisters help their father to manage and run the academy. (thehindu.com, 06 Sep 2014) |