Rookie paddler Soumi Mondal gears up for the World Championship to be held in Croatia from May 21-27 as she takes part in her first major tournament abroad. National champions Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das will spearhead India’s challenge.

While the 25-year-old Chennai paddler is currently playing in the Spanish league, the rest of the Zagreb-bound men’s team including Soumyadeep Roy, Subhajit Saha, Anirban Nandy and Pathik Mehta are training in Germany ahead of the prestigious event. Besides Mouma, the women’s team includes Poulomi Ghatak, Kasturi Chakraborty, K Shamini and Soumi Mondal.

Unlike the men who are training in the Dusseldorf club in Germany, the five-member women’s team is camping in Patiala. Asked why the women are not training abroad, Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) Technical Committee chairman Dhanraj Choudhary told The Indian Express: “The men are training in the Dusseldorf club but there are no women players in that club with whom our paddlers can train and play. So they are training in Patiala.”

In that case why did the TTFI not approach some other foreign club for the women paddlers? “The Dusseldorf club is a very good place to train, so we didn’t look for another club for the women. And besides, the facilities in Patiala are also good,” Choudhary added.

TTFI joint-secretary and former women’s national champion Mantu Ghosh and Manjit Dua will be traveling with the team as coaches. Mantu sounded confident of India’s performance in the Croatian event.

“We have a Commonwealth gold medallist in Sharath and others too have vast experience of playing on the senior circuit. Among women, for Soumi it will be her first big tour so she should be excited. The rest are experienced and should perform well,” the North Bengal Table Tennis Association (NBTTA) general secretary said.