Patience, strategy and a robot: The rise of new table tennis sensation Divyanshi Bhowmick
The last few months have been eventful for Divyanshi Bhowmick.
“I’m giving so many interviews at a stretch for the first time, but it’s been fun,” Divyanshi says.
At just 14, Divyanshi became the first Indian in more than three decades to win the Under-15 girls’ singles title at the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships. The teenager from Mumbai dismantled three Chinese opponents en route to the title, beating Zhu Qihui 4-2 in the summit clash.
“I had played with all three Chinese players before. The girls in the quarterfinals (Yang Huize) and the semifinals (Liu Ziling), I’d lost to them before. Both my coach and father analysed and told me how to play against them. We practised accordingly,” she tells Sportstar a few days after her triumph in Tashkent.
Sessions with a robot
Preparation to take on the Chinese had started long before the tournament.
Her father, Rahul Bhowmick — a former sub-junior table tennis player — brought home Power Pong, a robot that mimics a sparring partner.
When she first picked up a paddle, Divyanshi spent hours rallying with her father and elder sister Hitangshi, who now focuses on academics. Other than the occasional trip to the SAI centre in Bengaluru, most of her training happened at home, where Rahul arranged hitting partners.
“To occupy more of her time, we purchased the robot to give repetitive ball practices. Whenever she’s home in Mumbai, she practises with it,” says Rahul, a COO at an MNC, about the robot, which cost Rs. 2.5 lakh. “Her biggest competition on the international circuit has been the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. They have tremendous ball control, and she’s been a little bit on the defensive side as a player. There are not many practice partners who can really feed her so many balls.”
Divyanshi agrees that these robot sessions helped her adapt to the heavy spin generated by the Chinese — a skill set not often seen among Indian paddlers.
Long pimples – yay or nay?
The long-pimpled rubber wasn’t a conscious choice. Her school table tennis coach gave it to her, and she stuck with it.
Many Indian players — including Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Yashaswini Ghorpade — use the same rubber. While critics argue it’s a limiting tool whose novelty wears off over time, India coach Massimo Costantini disagrees.
“What Divyanshi has is amazing control. She never rushes to win the point, something that other players are struggling with. Actually, whenever she tries to do that, she loses the point. She has this great quality to be patient, not to be worried. I’m expecting her to go even further, to explore other possibilities. Because I have always said that pimples are not synonymous with being limited,” the Italian explains.
Rahul sees the rubber as a way for Indian paddlers to close the gap with their East Asian counterparts, who typically start younger and train with military discipline.
“People often talk about the defensive game of the pimples, but Divyanshi has an attacking shot with them as well: a tap. Unless we are really taking our fitness levels to their standards, you have to compensate by using pimples.”
What next?
Divyanshi is currently in Class 10, but her parents — Rahul and Preeti Arora Bhowmick, who travels with her to tournaments — have accepted that balancing academics and elite-level sport may no longer be possible.
As World No. 3 in the U-15 girls’ rankings, she now receives private tutoring and is preparing to compete in both junior and senior international events.
The next big target is the World Youth Championships in Romania this November.
“The World Youth Championships will be my biggest goal this year because winning the Asian Championships has really given me confidence to do well and work hard,” says Divyanshi, who now also sits inside the top 200 of the women’s rankings.
Costantini believes she’s well placed to succeed — with a few tweaks.
“Definitely, the serve is something that can be worked on. Maybe we need a better and stronger forehand. It doesn’t mean that there has to be a risky stroke, but a little bit more offensive. We have time from now until the World Championships to really have a great mindset and to be ready to perform without expectation, while being humble on court.”