By Paritosh Pramanik
THE unwanted interruption due to COVID-19 might be frustrating for all. But for city’s talented table tennis player Jennifer Varghese, it is time to iron out her flaws and strengthen the weak areas.
Jennifer, 13, who had settled for bronze medal in the Under-17 category at Indore Nationals last month, is preparing for the junior and youth nationals which is going to be held at Alleppey in Kerala later this month, provided COVID does not play spoilsport, again.
Jennifer is practising at Smashes Academy in Chennai under former national paddler R Rajesh and is working on improving her top spin apart from overall game.
“There will be a few international tournaments in coming months and I am thinking of participating in those. But, nothing is final as yet. We had national championships in January but that got postponed due to COVID. There is one (tournament) lined up in February (21 to 28) at Kerala but all depends on COVID situation,” Jennifer said while interacting with The Hitavada over phone from Chennai.
If all goes well, Jennifer will be participating in the Under-17 and U-19 age categories.
“All tourneys are over and this would be the last meet of the season. The season has been delayed due to pandemic. I hope I get selected in the Indian team with my recent performance,” said Jennifer.
Despite no tournaments due to coronavirus, Jennifer is not feeling frustrated but is taking this break in stride and is preparing herself for future meets.
“The present situation is not frustrating one as it helps one in preparing well for the tournaments. The championships are not held but we can train more. It’s not that frustrating as the seedings will be the same. Top four seeded players are allowed to participate in the international events. I am ranked second in the Under-15 age category and with no competitions, my ranking will be the same. So in the given scenario, I am happy,” said Jennifer.
“I think it (the break) is good for players also as we get time to practice and improve our performance,” added the paddler who won bronze in U-17 age category at Indore nationals.
Jennifer wants to improve her overall game but is giving more stress on bettering her top spin shots.
“I am working hard on developing my spin shots. I will be playing in higher (age) category, so I need to improve my overall game. We can’t go far ahead in any competition if we don’t have spin in our game. Speed is not everything. We need speed as well as spin in our armoury. Both go together, hand in hand and I am working on these areas,” Jennifer elaborated.
The city paddler said she wants to rectify her mistakes done during the last competition.
“I would like to rectify my mistakes which I committed in Indore nationals. I didn’t pull my opponent to the corner in that match (semis). I need to work on my serves and top spins and iron out my minor mistakes. Yes, I want to improve my overall game but these are the areas I am working hard on,” she admitted.
Jennifer wants to improve her overall skills to produce consistent performance.
“I also need to work on my consistency more. I am also working on my fitness. At present I am doing training for around 4-5 hours daily,” the Standard VIII Centre Point School, Katol Road student
concluded.
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