Mumbai: Manav Thakkar, India’s No.2 male paddler, observed how the Lebrun brothers, the French siblings who’ve taken the desk tennis world by storm, would “invent stuff” submit coaching periods even because the others would wind down. They’d play a fast recreation with two bounces on the desk, or with simply excessive balls, or just stationed on the web.
Indian paddler Manav Thakkar attained his profession excessive rating at 56 in July 2024 (WTT World / X)
“It would last only for 10-15 minutes, and there is no goal as such in what they do,” Thakkar mentioned. “But who knows, maybe once in 10 or 20 times, that would come in handy.”
The 24-year-old Thakkar has had a ringside view to the meteoric rise of 18-year-old Felix (world No.4) and 21-year-old Alexis (world No.16) — they’re additionally the No.1 males’s doubles pair — coaching and enjoying alongside them in France. That can also be serving to spur the expansion of Thakkar, who has risen to world No.59 from outdoors the highest 100 till mid-2023.
For a few month in September-October, Thakkar performed for French membership Nimes Montpellier Desk Tennis Alliance, the Montpellier membership that has produced, and is residence to, the Lebrun brothers. Felix and Alexis are his teammates on match days of their prime division French league, and sparring companions on different days.
Thakkar moved from the German to the French league in 2024, making sporadic appearances for the membership within the first three months. The newest stint submit the Paris Olympics was longer, and he’s looking forward to extra sustained blocks this yr. “I have seen a significant improvement during my time there,” Thakkar mentioned.
Having sparring periods virtually every day with the 2 bespectacled French sensations is essential to that.
“If I play well sparring with them or beat them, I get the confidence that I’m beating the world’s best players. At the same time, jab maar padti hai (when I get thrashed), it does hurt but also motivates me to see how good they are. Knowing that I’ll have to compete with them, the will power shoots up,” the participant from Gujarat mentioned.
On his newest go to, Thakkar stayed with Felix in his condo for some days. The 2 performed video video games, volleyball, went for morning runs and ordered in Mexican meals.
“They do things their way, but they are confident in whatever they do,” Thakkar mentioned. “They might be the top players in the world currently, but they’re so down to earth. They see the sport as fun. And I’m having fun with them too.”
Whereas choosing up nuances from their coaching, sparring periods are sometimes handled as matches, even whether it is aimed toward bettering a particular side of 1’s recreation. “Let’s say there’s a session where balls are peppered only to my forehand. Even in that, we count points. So, every day we tend to play 6-8 matches,” Thakkar mentioned. “You can see why the Lebrun brothers are so fearless. Because they are playing so many matches in training itself and pushing themselves so hard.”
That goes for the bigger group within the membership, Thakkar mentioned, which includes round a dozen gamers, all of them “young and energetic”.
“In India it’s hard to find that kind of quality and quantity of sparring partners,” he mentioned. “There are many coaches too, and they work closely with you. Because of the brothers, things like funding and system are already set and it is world class. And since I’m part of their team, I get access to all of that — coaches, fitness trainer, etc.”
Thakkar singled out a few facets wherein he has seen tangible enchancment by means of his French join: health and energy.
“I’ve gained weight, and the focus on fitness here is second to none. In Europe, conditions are a bit slower compared to India, so you need to generate more power behind the ball in every training session. My game is speed centric, which, after a point, can get predictable against a higher level player. I’m therefore also building that power. In the longer process, it will also improve my quality of strokes.”
Thakkar appears again at a “very good” 2024, attaining a career-high rating that locations him solely behind Sharath Kamal, making his Olympic debut and beating a couple of top-50 opponents. The Surat-based participant can also be experiencing the enjoyment of enjoying desk tennis once more whereas coaching in Montpellier, the place they make periods as a lot enjoyable as productive. Thakkar desires extra of that this yr. And to interrupt into the highest 50.
“And then into the top 30. That will get me into the WTT Champions events, where I’ll start to compete with the top players,” he mentioned. “Like the Lebrun brothers.”