Paddler Moumita Dutta dreams of playing in the Ultimate Table Tennis League

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Kolkata, June 21: 18-year old Moumita Dutta has been among the top three paddlers in the junior level of Indian table tennis for last five years.

She lives in a place named Naihati, around three hours from Kolkata via train. Her father, Gouri Shankar Dutta was a former footballer but could not able to shine in the mainstream and did not get job from football.

So, he works as a security guard in a private company in Naihati and earns such a paltry amount of money that is not enough to survive.

Moumita's mother Shampa Dutta also used to play basketball. But despite having played at the state level regularly she has not been able to manage any solid job.

She now works as a temporary nurse. Moumita does not even have her own home. They all live in their uncle's house.

On the hindsight, Moumita has been gifted with a precious talent. At the age of seven, Moumita's Table Tennis skills came to limelight when she fought neck-to-neck with a senior girl in a local tournament.

After that former table tennis player and coach, Amit Mukherjee picked Moumita and assured her parents saying that she would not have to spend a single penny to learn table tennis. That was the beginning of Moumita. It was 2008.

Moumita has been selected in the auction for the country's first ever franchise table tennis league (Ultimate Table Tennis), organised by Eleven Sports.

The number two ranked junior player has been chosen by one of the franchises, Challengers along with Mouma Das. It has been learnt that she has been bought by the franchise for nearly 1.5 lakhs.

Moumita's mother said: “It has been a dream for all of us. We have never been able to provide anything to continue her training.

"Whatever expenses need for her table tennis, she spends her prize money, earned from different tournaments. Now, playing in this league will inspire her to improve more."

Kamlesh Mehta, the eight-time national champion and one of the directors of Eleven Sports also had a notion when he said: “Playing with world's top paddlers, training with them, learning a lot from best foreign coaches through this league will be the key strength for Indian paddlers to bring medals in the Olympics. The key reason behind introducing this league is also that."

OneIndia News