India lacks proper structure in Table Tennis: Karlsson

New Delhi, Aug 5 (UNI) India's talented young paddlers fail to blossom into world beaters at the senior level courtesy poor structure of the game in the country, feels former European champion Peter Karlsson of Sweden.

Karlsson, who won the 2000 European Championship title, said unlike Europe or China, India's structure at the ground level does not call for a smooth transition of their paddlers from junior to senior level.

''It is very difficult to develop a junior player to the senior level. In India the young players are playing a lot of tournaments but it is not helping them in developing at the senior level,'' said Karlsson.

''In Europe, the paddlers are not playing much at the junior level, we catch the Asians at the senior level,'' he added.

The 1991 doubles World Champion pin-pointed 'structure, knowledge and planning' as the factors which India should stress upon to become a 'power-house' in the game.

''Build up a convinient structure for the game. Educate your coaches to nurture the young talents to play well at the senior level,'' he said.

Karlsson, who retired from the international arena in 2006 and is presently playing in the French professional league, is of the view that relationship between a player and a trainer is very important to taste success at the top level.

''A coach and a player have to work together in order to achieve success. A coach should always follow a player from the junior to the top level,'' he explained.

Interestingly, former Olympian and top contender for India's national Table Tennis coach Kamlesh Mehta also aired the same views.

He even went a step further and said that the Indian paddlers lack physical fitness which is necessary at the top level.

''India needs to work on their ground structure as the country doesn't have a sporting environment.

''Indians are not genetically strong, so physical fitness is one aspect in which the paddlers need to work harder as the game calls for high amount of flexibilty and fast movements,'' Kamlesh said.

The Arjuna awardee also called on the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) to organise coach development programme in order to uplift the standard of coaching in the country.

''Coaches should also be provided international exposure.

Exchange programmes of coaches should be organised with other top Table Tennis playing countries, but side by side national coaches should not be neglected,'' he said.

The two legends of the game expressed their views on the sidelines of an event organised by STAG to announce the conception of their training videos for rookies.

STAG, an international manufacturer, supplier and exporter of Sports Goods and Sports Equipment from India, mainly pertaining to Table Tennis, Weight Lifting, Basketball, Soccer and Volley ball, is coming up with training videos for Table Tennis enthusiasts which consists of three parts 'Basic, Advance and Professional'.

Karlsson who signed a ten-year contract with the company to work for the development of the game worldwide and Kamlesh, brand ambassador for STAG are the two experts who will be seen in the video analysing the different aspects of the game -- basically covering major strokes of Table Tennis -- from the grassroot to the professional level.

UNI