Calcutta: A group of students had gathered at the Narkeldanga Table Tennis Academy for practice as usual on Sunday afternoon when word arrived that India had defeated England at the Commonwealth Games and made it to the women's team final against Singapore later in the day.
The practice session was immediately suspended and a projector set up for the players to watch the action live from the Gold Coast. Mouma Das, one of their own, was to partner Madhurika Patkar in the crucial doubles after the score was tied at 1-1 after two singles matches.
"Most of the Singapore players belong to the top 16 in the world rankings and they had never lost the team gold since the inception of table tennis at the Commonwealth Games (in 2002). Our girls are ranked between 58 and 75," said Jayanta Pushilal, who has coached Mouma since she was seven. "But after Manika Batra stunned the World No. 4 Feng Tianwei in the opener, our hopes soared."
Every shot was cheered by the gathering of 70-odd people as Mouma and Madhurika put it past Zhou and Mengyu Yu 11-7, 11-6, 8-11 and 11-7.
The team gold was sweet revenge for Mouma and her teammates because Singapore had defeated them at the 2010 Commonwealth Games final.
Commonwealth Championships and Games combined, Mouma is the most decorated Indian table tennis player ever. "She had surpassed Indu Puri after she won two medals in the championships in 2015," recalled her father Asit Das, a former secretary of the Narkeldanga club.
Mouma had called home immediately after the final but had to hang up quickly because the presentation ceremony was to take place, husband Kanchan Chakraborty said.
Mother-in-law Pushpa Chakraborty was delighted for her. "I have prayed for her every day. I knew my bouma (daughter-in-law) would win this time," said Pushpa Chakraborty.
Mouma's family and coach see more medals coming. "She is playing singles, doubles and mixed doubles too. We are hopeful of the Mouma-Manika pairing," Asit said.
Coach Jayanta became emotional talking about the rigours of his ward. "Age is no bar for her. Table tennis is her life. She has few other needs. Give her fish and rice, she is happy," he said.
