Venugopal Chandrasekhar was a fierce fighter - Kamlesh Mehta

Table tennis Olympian Kamlesh Mehta believes the best way to describe his contemporary Venugopal Chandrasekhar is by calling him a ldquofierce fighterrdquoThreetime national champion Chandrasekhar 63 lost his battle against Covid19 in Chennai on WednesdayldquoHe Chandrasekhar was a fierce fighter He would never give up He had the courage to take risks at crucial stages of a match He was a very consistent player and technically very strongrdquo said Mehta an eighttime national championMehta 61 won his first national championship by beating Chandrasekhar 30 in Indore 1983 after having lost the previous year 03 in Palghat Kerala to the Chennaiborn paddlerKamlesh MehtaRecalling his association with Chandrasekhar Mehta said ldquoOur journey started way back in 1978 and we were in touch till the day he was hospitalised We played together for two years after which his career came to an endrdquoShort careerChandrasekhar who reached the semifinal of the 1982 Commonwealth Games saw his career come to an abrupt end in 1984 following an unsuccessful knee surgery which resulted him in losing his vision and mobility But that did not deter him from giving back to the sport ldquoAfter the operation when he was going through a very bad phase he used to keep me informed about his treatment So we were in constant touch throughout Despite his limitations he was always involved in improving his players People with all their senses intact give in easily and here he was with lot of difficulties and limitations but never gave up and went on contributing to the sport till his last breathrdquo said Mehta an Arjuna awardee himself 1985ldquoAfter recovering he started his academy which was supported by Ultimate Table Tennis A lot of good players like Chetan Baboor and G Sathiyan have emerged from his academy In fact he was at his academy on the day he was hospitalisedrdquo Mehta addedVenugopal ChandrasekharlsquoHe improved my gamersquoMehta even credited Chandrasekhar for improving his game ldquoHe always told me to be patient on the table I had this habit of hitting the ball early so he used to tell me to focus on my forehand technique which improved my game Though we did not have much international exposure during our time whenever we used to go on a tour we used to watch matches and try to memorise how the opponent plays since videos were not availablerdquo said Mehta who is the director of the franchisebased UTT The former paddler who played under Chandrasekhar went on to captain him and said he was a through professional ldquoAs a captain he was very professional and clear in his mind And when I was a captain I never had difficulty in managing himrdquo concluded MehtaChandrasekhar is survived by his wife and son