As a young girl in Nagpur, Jennifer Varghese would accompany her parents to the Titans Table Tennis Academy near her home to pick up or drop off her older sister. The sport soon caught her fancy and she became a frequenter of the club.
“The coach asked me to practice, taught me to bounce the ball. I played a few matches then they were like, ‘let him carry on’. I persevered and here I am now,” said Jennifer during the recent Sub-Junior Nationals in Alappuzha.
She has come a long way.
With the advice of her Nagpur coach Ujjwal Wani after winning the U-12 national title in 2019, Jennifer moved to Chennai in August 2021 and started training under R Rajesh at his academy in Thiruvanmiyur.
The 14-year-old is now world No. 5 in the Under-15 category and recently won the national singles title in that age group in Alappuzha.
But life was not easy for young Jennifer after moving to Chennai.
“She came in with a lot of potential, she was already an under-12 national champion. But after that her game started declining because she was getting tall very fast,” said Rajesh, a former international.
growing pains
“She grew five to six inches in about two years. It’s not easy for anybody to adjust when you shoot all of a sudden. It was a huge headache for me and him. Because when you see the ball is suddenly at a different level. But it happens.
“The table, the sight of the ball… everything changes. She could not adjust. Technically, she found it very difficult to coordinate her body and movements and lost her confidence.
“It took us some time but she was always a very hardworking girl, very honest and with a lot of potential. On top of that, she is someone who is willing to learn and willing to learn from her mistakes. That’s what it takes for you to grow.” is very important.
Once she settled into her ‘new’ 5’7″ frame, Jennifer started to deliver results.
Seizing the Initiative: Attack is Jennifer’s specialty, a power that helps her control rallies. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Last year, she won five international titles including victories at World Table Tennis (WTT) Youth Contender Series events in Morocco, Tunisia and the Czech Republic. She also played at the Youth Worlds in Tunisia in December, where she made the pre-quarterfinals, and finished the year as the under-15 world No. 4.
“check event” [June 2022] It was memorable because I beat the world No. 4 from Romania in the final. and in morocco [August 2022]I beat my clubmate Suhana Saini in the U-17 final,” said Jennifer.
Rajesh is happy with the way she is shaping up. “She is doing well this year. After two years she is slowly becoming the kind of player I want her to be.
breaking down barriers
The progress of 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Manika Batra has inspired many young girls; It has also broken down huge mental barriers.
“She inspires me a lot. Even if she fails or loses, she comes back stronger,” Jennifer said of the current women’s world No. 34. “I wish her the best.” Like the talk. She may be losing but still she plays cool. In the Asian Cup [in Bangkok last November]she won the bronze medal [the first Indian woman to do so, beating Japan’s World No. 6 Hina Hayata] after losing the semifinals [to Japan’s World No. 2 Mima Ito],
Eight-time former national champion Kamlesh Mehta, who is now the secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of India, feels the women’s game is growing like never before.
Manika’s performance will inspire others to believe that they can do the same. And this is one of the major successes,” said Kamlesh.
“There are three to four women in the world’s top 100 now… It has never been like this. Many of them are young, which is also a good thing. We have a good group of players who are doing well in every age group. It means there is a flow, there is a line, so there is hope.”
Obviously, Jennifer is one of them. Haryana’s Suhana Saini, the U-17 world No.7 who is also Rajesh’s trainee in Chennai, also looks promising. So is Maharashtra’s Riyana Bhoot, the U-13 world No.3.
He said, “I have been training Suhana for a long time and as far as I am concerned she and Jennifer will be Saina [Nehwal] And [P.V.] Sindhu of Indian table tennis. The kind of ability he has, the kind of strokes he plays, leave alone success, the way he plays, his presence at the table, he has a great future,” Rajesh said.
“And Jennifer, if she grows up the right way, will break all barriers and be as good as Manika.”
UTT effect
Rajesh also feels that the Ultimate Table Tennis League held in India a few years back has played a big role in taking the sport to new heights.
“Earlier, when our players were playing Chinese or going for international meets, it was more for participation. They never really had any expectations. That mindset has changed. I think that mindset change The starting point was UTT,” he said.
“We had foreigners coming here and we were beating them. Only then the players started believing in themselves. Also the support from the government, which forced him to play more tournaments, helped him move up in the rankings.”
Mumbai-born Jennifer, who has her roots in Thiruvalla, Kerala, is clear about her goals.
“First, it’s rankings, then Commonwealth Games, then Olympics… I am taking it step by step,” said the Class IX student.
This year Rajesh has set a special target for him.
“My immediate goal for that would be to try to get a medal at the Youth Worlds [Slovenia, Nov. 2023] Which she had missed last year. Also to maintain his Indian ranking,” he said.
“After that, I want her to reach the next level, under-19 and women’s because she is showing promise. From next year, we may have to leave U-17 and focus on U-19. She has to focus on her recovery as well, she can’t play all the events all the time.”
Attack is Jennifer’s strength.
“Her strength is her attack, she is very good in the open game in rallies. He needs to find some way to improve his service and reception. She is not that strong tactically but now she is learning to do that as well. “Ball to ball and rally to rally, he is better than many.”
Rajesh feels that the game will be greatly helped by the arrival of more rubies. He said, what Manika is achieving, we want to see three to four people in the age of 19 and 20 doing the same. “We don’t want solo performances, the next batch should be of four to five…that will help you climb the rankings simultaneously and faster.”