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In defence of the defensive style
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What do coaches feel about the pure defensive style of play in table tennis? Read on...
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R. Abhishek with former national table tennis champion G. Jagannath -- Pic. By R. Ragu
IT IS a mode not played by many now — both at the national and international levels. Only a handful venture to adopt a pure defensive style of play in table tennis, given the current trend, which leans heavily on attack. The impression that it is disadvantageous, and even suicidal, to play a defensive game began to gain ground in the late 1980s. The introduction of speed glues and their effect in international tournaments favoured mostly attacking players, and over the years, the impression that being defensive does not pay only got reinforced.
Yet, there seems to be some hope for defensive players, if the recent World Table Tennis Championships in Paris, where Korea's Joo Se-Hyuk's exploits were applauded (he lost in the men's singles to Austrian Werner Schlager), are any indication. The Chinese had no clue to the defensive tactics of Hyuk, who with his chops and spin from the back of the table, thwarted the domination of China in the men's section. The Chinese head coach Cai Zhenhua admitted that they were not mentally and technically prepared for the defensive players who had seldom made an impact in major events for almost three decades. "We used to have a lot of ways to handle the choppers but now we are more comfortable with the attacking game. We need to have a good study of the defensive game, try to develop various playing styles."
India too had its fair share of defensive players — Thiruvengadam, Krishna Nagaraj, G. Jagannath, Sai Kumar, Sudhir Phadke and B.K. Arun Kumar among men, and Usha Sundarraj, Kanchana Murugesh, Shailaja Salokhe and Lakshmi Karant among women, to name a few. Of the lot, it was Jagannath who made a mark going on to represent India in six World Championships between 1965 and 1975. Slowly, everyone faded out. Just when everyone has begun to feel that it is very difficult to make it big with a defensive game, the 16-year-old student of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan SSS (Nungambakkam) R. Abhishek, a trainee at the Lords Table Tennis Academy, run by chief coach Christopher Anas, has given a fresh lease of life to this "dying breed".
A fast-improving Abhishek won his maiden national crown in the recently concluded South Zone National Ranking Championships in Chennai defeating Subhadip Das of Bengal. Earlier, he made a mark at the State level when he clinched the men's title in the 13th State-ranking tournament at Chennai defeating established names such as K. Srivatsa and R. Rajesh. In fact, the final between Abhishek and Rajath Kamal saw spectators enjoy the contrasting styles. As Rajath kept pounding, Abhishek kept retrieving with his trademark chops. The more the number of rallies, the more the crowd cheered.
Says three-time national champion V. Chandrasekar: "It is a welcome signal that defensive players are coming up. It is good from the spectators' point of view." Chandrasekar says while speed glues have changed the accent of the game towards power to some extent, rubbers have remained more or less the same over the years, and they have not pushed the game towards attack. "Playing defence gives a different spin to the ball. It gives a surprising effect and the players who use it are at a slight advantage."
Former National champion Jagannath, who popularised the defensive style, says the advent of sponge racquets in the 1950s gave a new dimension to the game. "The Japanese revolutionised the game when they came for the World Championship in Mumbai in 1952 with sponge racquets that imparted a certain speed and spin. Then came the sandwich rubbers which imparted speed, spin and attack."
Jagannath says that up to 1975 there were "decent" defence players but from 1980 onwards, there has been a steady decline. "Defence has to come naturally to a player." He cites some attributes that a defensive player should possess: physical fitness, perseverance, a good temperament, tremendous self-belief and the ability to make the opponent earn his points and then attack to upset his rhythm. "I never played defence alone. If my opponents were lesser-ranked players, I played more aggressively, and if they were top players, I played defence with a view to upsetting their rhythm, I never let go off the opportunity to attack," says Jagannath.
Muralidhara Rao, coach, Young Men's Indian Association Club, Mylapore, also feels that the current environment is not conducive to defence. "Even if somebody takes to defence, he/she has to adapt to attack. The threat of attack should be there. Without that it is difficult for the player to progress," he says.
Muralidhara says that a coach too is in a dilemma to groom a defensive player as everybody around him is playing a fast game. But he adds, "It (defensive play) definitely attracts a crowd." E. Mani, coach, Stag Don Bosco Youth Centre, Vyasarpadi (the centre is sponsored partly by the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu), says that to be successful, defensive players have to mix it with attack, and if they did that, they will be difficult to beat.
Abhishek (initially coached by the Rao brothers — Muralidhara and Srinivasa) and Nikhil Thiruvengadam (Medimix Chandra Academy) are among the very few defensive players in the State who are doing fairly well. While both have a long way to go, Abhishek's progress has made everybody sit up and take notice. Says Anas: "He is a shrewd player. He retrieves the fastballs really well. But if he has to progress, he should be more patient, improve his physical fitness, temperament, and most importantly, be prepared to get thrashed. If Jagannath Sir was able to do well against attacking players it was because he had good attack." Anas also believes that Abhishek's progress depends on how well he plans and plays against those who are good in attack. Chandrasekar gives full credit to the coaches who have trained Abhishek knowing pretty well that it is against the trend.
With most of the rule changes (barring the increase in size of the ball from 38mm to 40mm) benefiting attacking players, no doubt the future of defensive players appears rather bleak (Three-time Commonwealth champion Matthew Syed, last year, spoke out about the on-going overhaul of the rules by the International Table Tennis Federation affecting the few existing defensive players). But the very fact that only few practise this art should give it an inherent advantage. Muralidhara sums it up: "Any unorthodoxy pursued with blind faith and hard work could pay rich dividends."
K. KEERTHIVASAN
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