The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : New coach to take over on January 20

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New coach to take over on January 20

Principal Correspondent

PATNA: The new national coach of table tennis Massimo Constantini has the acumen and the experience to help the Indian teams do well in international events, said the Table Tennis Federation of India secretary Moolchand Chauhan here on Friday.

Arriving here after attending the meeting with Union sports ministry, which finalised the Italian’s appointment earlier in the day, Mr. Chauhan said the coach’s credentials provided by the international body ITTF were quite encouraging. Constantini, who played in the Italian national team in the in the 70s and the 80s, replaces Aleksey Yefremov of Belarus.

The TTFI secretary had led a three-member team that met the joint secretary of Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs, Rahul Bhatnagar to decide on the new coach.

Constantini, who was the head coach of the UAE national team prior his new assignment, has been asked to take over the charge of the Indian team from January 20. The camp for the Indian team probables start at Patiala and Ajmer on January 22, it was informed. ix Indian coaches — Bhawani Mukherjee, Vijay Sarathi, Nandini Kulkarni, Rita Jain, Upendra Singh and Manoj Chouhan will assist Constantini. The TTFI selected the coaches receiving the assurance that they would be available all through the year.

Mixed reactions

National champion A. Sharath Kamal said: “It does not help Indian table tennis if coaches are changed so often,” he said, hinting at the fact that Constantini was the fourth foreign coach in the last three years. “This might disturb the pace for preparation as any coach would take four to six months to familiarise with the system and environment of the country,” he added.

Another top player Subhajit Saha said: “We have got the ability to adjust and try to adapt the teachings of the new coach as soon as he comes,” he said. “I have heard a lot good things about our new coach in the international circuit. I think he will be able to give us something new.”

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