Kolkata: At a time when more and more Indian sporting disciplines are opting for foreign coaches, here’s one from the country who is making waves as a coach in the US.
Meet Subham Kundu whose students have won multiple medals in the US Open table tennis meet that concluded last month. City boy Kundu, himself a table tennis player, grew up playing in the Indian domestic circuit.He first travelled to the US to train under renowned coach Massimo Costantini at the India Community Centre (ICC) at Milpitas in the Silicon Valley in California, USA, in the summer of 2013. “There I got a chance to train with Olympians Timothy Wang and Lily Zhang,” he told TOI. “Then I visited ICC in 2015, 2016 and 2018 also on invitation,” he added.
But it was in 2019 that he got an offer to join ICC’s coaching team as well as play for them. “That was a tough call for me as I was having a government job then,” he stated. But the 33-year-old, who idolises Olympian Poulomi Ghatak, decided to take the plunge.
It was a good start for Kundu. “I won gold in the U-3800 doubles event of the US Open in 2021 with my partner Vishal Sivakumar.” He then bagged silver (doubles) and a bronze (singles) at the 2022 Joola Global Championship and was also part of the US national coaching team in their training camp for the Pan American Championships in 2022.
“Milpitas has a huge Indian and Chinese population and their children occupy the maximum seats for training at our centre. Hence, it’s not totally a foreign land for me now,” Kundu said.
Many top Indian players visit the centre for summer camps or training like Soumyajit Ghosh, who is now practising there. Another city boy Souvik Banerjee won a silver medal at the US Open this time training under Kundu. Others like Ved Sheth, Vishal Sivakumar, Shrirang Krishnaprasad, Rachel Purwar and Tanisha Bala are also making a mark.
“I am enjoying my role and also learning a lot from there,” Kundu stated welcoming other Indian players to pay a visit to the centre.