Mantu Ghosh

Mantu Ghosh (born 1973/1974) is an Indian former table tennis player from West Bengal. As a two-time national champion, Ghosh is now the coach of India's table tennis women's team and a sports administrator after previously working in different capacities at the state and the national level. She was featured in the Limca Book of Records for becoming India's youngest national table tennis champion in 1990 at age 16. In 2002, her achievements were recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Government of India, which awarded her the Arjuna Award.

Mantu Ghosh
Ghosh at YMA Club, Siliguri, in 2019
Born1973/1974
Siliguri, West Bengal, India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Table tennis coach
Sports administrator
Known forTwo times national champion in table tennis
AwardsArjuna Award (2002)
Banga Bhushan (2013)

National career

Ghosh is one of the first prominent table tennis players from Siliguri, which is now considered the "nursery" of table tennis players in India after many went on to become national champions and Olympians.[1]

Ghosh began training at Deshbandhu Sporting Union and won the 1988 Sub-Junior National Championship as a trainee at the club.[2] She won the Junior National Table Tennis Championship in 1990, the same year she participated in the 52nd Senior National Table Tennis Championship held at Jaipur, Rajasthan.[3][4] Winning the title, she became India's youngest national table tennis champion at age 16, an achievement that featured in the Limca Book of Records.[4][5] Her victory at the national championship motivated more players in Siliguri to pursue table tennis.[6] In 1993, she won the singles title at the 55th Senior National Table Tennis Championship.[6][7]

International career

Ghosh competed in all events of table tennis at the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England. She failed to advance beyond the first round of singles;[8] reached the quarterfinals of doubles – paired with Indu Nagapattinam R. – and eventually ranked fifth;[9] and reached the third round of mixed doubles, pairing with Subramaniam Raman,[10] The Indian team – consisting of Ghosh, Mouma Das, Indu Nagapattinam R., Nandita Saha, and Poulomi Ghatak – finished sixth.[11]

Ghosh qualified for the main draw of the 2003 World Table Tennis Championships held in Paris, France, participating the singles and doubles events. Malaysian paddler Yao Lin Jing defeated Ghosh in the first round of singles by 12–10, 11–6, 11–3, 11–5; the pair Mauma Das and Ghosh lost against the Singaporean pair of Xueling Zhang and Tan Paey Fern by 11–8, 7–11, 5–11, 2–11, 11–8, 7–11 in doubles.[12]

Post-retirement

After retirement, Ghosh began to coach players and became a part of different organisations related to table tennis at the state and the national level. She is the Chief Coach at the Young Men's Association's table tennis coaching centre in Siliguri.[13] She was the national coach for the women's team and prepared the team for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.[14] She trained both Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das, who qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in their respective categories.[1][15]

In 2016, she was appointed as the vice-chairperson of the North Bengal Board for Development of Sports and Games by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banarjee.[16] The board, with Bhaichung Bhutia as its chairman, is based at Kanchenjunga Stadium and is responsible for developing and promoting sports in the seven districts of North Bengal.[16]

In 2017, she became a joint-secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of India.[17] She is also joint secretary of the Bengal State Table Tennis Association and is a past president of the North Bengal Table Tennis Association.[18]

Awards and honours

In 2002, Ghosh received the Arjuna Award from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Government of India in recognition of her achievements.[19] On 20 May 2013, she received the Banga Bhushan title, a civil honour of the West Bengal state, from the Governor of West Bengal, M. K. Narayanan.[20]

Personal life

Ghosh is from Siliguri, West Bengal. She is married to Subrata Roy, a table tennis coach.[21][22]

References
  1. "Siliguri hailed as 'Bhiwani of Indian TT' after twin Oly berth". Zee News. 22 April 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  2. "Social Institutions and their Impact on Urban Life – Sporting Clubs" (PDF). Shodhganga. p. 146. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. "Table Tennis – Junior/ Senior Titles in a Year". Limca Book of Records. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  4. Limca Book of Records. Bisleri Beverages Limited. 2006. p. 452. Youngest National champion Mantu Ghosh was 16 when she won the title at Jaipur in 1990-91
  5. Sharma, Ramu (31 May 2003). "Sustained mediocrity in TT". The Tribune. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  6. Banerjee, Ruben (31 July 1995). "Siliguri's obsession with table tennis underlies its domination of the sport". India Today. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  7. Mitra, H. N. (2000). The Indian Annual Register A Digest Of Public Affairs Of India During The Period 1919-1947. Vol. 58. Gyan Publishing House. p. 143. ISBN 8121202132.
  8. "Table Tennis Singles – Women Manchester 2002". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  9. "Table Tennis Doubles – Women Manchester 2002". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. "Table Tennis Doubles – Mixed Manchester 2002". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. "Table Tennis Team – Women Manchester 2002". Thecgf.com. Commonwealth Games Federation. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  12. "Indian challenge ends at world TT champs". The Times of India. New Delhi. Press Trust of India. 22 May 2003. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  13. "Home is where the heat is". The Indian Express. 13 January 2007. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  14. Rathee, Aabha (29 August 2007). "Juniors not in awe of big names now: Mantu". The Indian Express. New Delhi. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  15. Srivastava, Taruka (16 January 2013). "Interview with Soumyajit Ghosh: "My goal is to be in the top 30"". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  16. "Baichung inaugurates NBBDSG, Mantu & Mann absent". News Time Today. Siliguri. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  17. "Dushyant Chautala is new TTFI president". The Times of India. Gurugram. Press Trust of India. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  18. Bhattacharya, Nilesh (8 June 2019). "Factions in Bengal table tennis brought under same umbrella". The Times of India. Kolkata. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  19. "List of Arjuna Awardees" (PDF). Yas.nic.in. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  20. "Chief Minister's Office – News". Government of West Bengal. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  21. "Ghosh is 25th Arjuna!". Ttfi.org. Table Tennis Federation of India. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  22. Karhadkar, Amol (20 June 2017). "Selector's coaching raises eyebrows". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 July 2020.

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