Mudit Dani breaks language barrier, follows in Peter Karlsson’s steps

Dani, No.10 in junior World ProTour rankings, has been training under Karlsson.

As a kid, Mudit Dani would struggle to fathom his sister Smiti’s interest in foreign languages. He was more into sports and Spanish and Mandarin were farthest from his horizon. But ironically, the 16-year-old would be forced to pick up a foreign tongue. For his stint in Sweden required him to learn a bit of Swedish. As for Mudit, he not only picked up the language, but lot more from his coach and former table tennis world champion Peter Karlsson, propelling himself to number 10 in junior World ProTour rankings — becoming only the third Indian to achieve such a feat.

Since 2012, Mudit has been training under Karlsson in Falkenberg, on Sweden’s Western coast, for months at a stretch. Subsequently, yet unconsciously, the teenager has developed a skill-set not unlike the one the five-time world champion had been famous for during his playing days. Reading of the game is one of those, but a strong backhand precedes all others. “Karlsson had a wonderful backhand and Mudit too has developed something of that calibre,” says eight-time national champion Kamlesh Mehta.

Mehta oversaw Mudit’s training before the Swedish expeditions were made available. He recalls the youngster possessing a unique knack of mastering the ball when they first worked together at the U-10 level. Following that, Mudit hit a stagnant patch.

‘LATE BLOOMER’
Nonetheless, the last 15 months have seen the Mumbai-lad burst onto the scene, winning two gold and nine bronze medals in 15 tournaments around the world. The feat, in turn, made him the third Indian after Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai to make the top 10 in the junior circuit. Compared to the other two seniors, Mehta says Mudit is a ‘late bloomer.’ “Soumyajit and Harmeet started off very quickly while Mudit has taken some time. But the benefit is that Mudit has developed physically and can better adapt to advanced techniques. Not to mention that he has become stronger and faster, and much more attack minded,” explains Mehta.

On his own part, Mudit says he learnt to control his shots from his first coach Kedar Kasbekar. However, it was a chance meeting with former international player and national coach Ratish Chanchad that influenced him to pick up the game. As an eight-year-old, Mudit and his cousins were told to be with their grandmother who was recovering from heart surgery. “There was a table in the building she stayed in. To kill time, my cousins and I started playing there for fun,” Mudit recollects. Not known to the youngster, his grandparents and Chachad were close friends. The veteran coach visited Mudit’s grandmother and decided to play a quick game with the children. “He didn’t really give us that many tips, but he started watching us play and told me to get proper coaching,” he adds. Eight years on, Mudit has hit the number 10 spot.

From table tennis, he will now have to switch his attention to academics, as he has to prepare for the upcoming board examinations. The short-term hiatus will bring a drop in the rankings, but that isn’t something he is concerned with. “The important thing is that I’ve got the mark at this age. Now I can get more time to compete in bigger rankings tournaments and get more experience before I get into the senior division,” asserts paddler Mudit.

Staying within the top 16 was always the initial goal, breaking into the top 10 having come as a surprise. Yet, now that he has managed to exceed his own expectations, he has decided to raise the bar a little higher. “I want to win the junior nationals this December. That’s the next priority,” he adds.