Mumbai: Massimo Costantini, the Italian coach of the Indian table tennis team, has expressed his disappointment over the team's performance at the World Team Table Tennis Championships in London. Despite reaching the group stage confidently, both the men's and women's teams were eliminated in the Round of 32.
Costantini, who has a contract that is up for renewal, has taken full responsibility for the negative results and has expressed his desire to find a better balance in the team. He believes that the team needs to grow as a unit and as individuals, and that consistent results are key to achieving success.
The coach has also highlighted the need for a leader in the team, which he is still searching for after the retirement of Sharath Kamal. He has expressed his hopes that players like Manav Thakkar, Sreeja Akula, and Manika Batra will be able to deliver consistent results and reach the top 20 in the world rankings.
Costantini has also spoken about the complexity of the selection system in India, which gives weightage to domestic performance apart from international and world rankings. He has cited the example of Ayhika Mukherjee, who did not make the cut for the London event despite being a world-class player.
The coach has expressed his hopes that the players who make the cut for the Asian Games will spend as much time as possible together, working towards a common goal. He believes that this failure can spur the team on and lead to a big bounce back towards the Asian Games.
