THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former table tennis player Vasanth Bharadwaj has told budding sportspersons that it is more important to love the game they are playing than to worry about winning medals.
Bharadwaj, who is also the co-founder of TENVIC Sports along with Anil Kumble, was speaking to trainees of the KSFL - TENVIC Academy at the Greenfield International Stadium, Kariavattom here the other day.
“An Olympic medal is not something that can be won that easily. For instance, we have some good players in table tennis from India, but we are still some way behind when it comes to winning at the Olympics,” Bharadwaj said. However, he expressed his confidence that the country will produce top athletes in a few years’ time. Bharadwaj took a tour of the stadium and oversaw the academy’s cricket and football training which began in April 2016. The KSFL - TENVIC Academy is set to launch training in indoor sports such as badminton, table tennis, chess, and basketball. An academy league for under-10, under-12 and under-16 boys and girls in badminton, table tennis, and lawn tennis will be conducted on Sundays.
“The Greenfield Stadium is one of the best sports facilities I have visited. The indoor sports facilities here is one of the best and has to be utilised well. We will bring in international and national coaches to train youngsters,” Bharadwaj said.
He also played a demo session of TT with the academy students. The academy is conducting coaching for cricket, football, swimming, and badminton while basketball, table tennis and chess training will start in July.