For the past few years, he was working very hard to improvise in his favourite sport of Table Tennis. He participated in the annual Inter Club TT League matches and the Men’s 40+ Veterans events at various tournaments held in Mumbai and different parts of Maharashtra. On few occasions he won the 40+ titles and on many occasions played very well, but lost in quarters or semi finals very narrowly. However, this time he did it in style. He won the MCDTTA organised TT Tournament at Indian Gymkhana, in Men’s Veterans’ 40+ category, beating the best players who entered the 40+ section recently. Yes, we are talking about multi-talented Ravi Chopra, well Known Pro- Singer and a TT Coach from South Mumbai.
48 year old Ravi Chopra beat Mumbai Super League player Kedar Kasbekar in semi finals of this tournament 3-2 and later went on to beat Ketan Palvankar 3-0 in the finals, to lift the title. His match against Kedar witnessed a thrilling finish, as in the deciding 5th game, Ravi was down 1-5 and literally had no hope during the change of sides. But, he fought very well to recover and take the crucial game and match to reach the finals. In the finals, he played more confidently, to beat another good player Ketan Palvankar, who has joined the Veterans’ 40+ group this year.
Ravi, who began playing the game of table tennis at the age of 17, didn’t receive training from anyone and made progress in this game on his own, with his watch n play strategy. In the year 2016-17 he began coaching younger children in different housing societies at places like Walkeshwar, Nepean Sea Road, Bandra , Lower Parel and Decathlon Sports Atria Mall, Worli, and groomed many school children. Today, he is a reputed TT Coach in South Mumbai and also participates in all TT tournaments regularly, in team and individual events.
Reacting on his recent victory, Ravi says, “ Winning a title in this tournament will surely inspire all my students, whom I coach and therefore I am really happy. In this particular tournament, I faced tougher competition and therefore this title was special for me. I want all my students to perform well not only at the state and national level but also at international level.” Ravi feels that all the modern housing societies and multi-storey towers should make provision for a TT hall, which requires less space.This will help promote the game in a better way. “This will also save the time of children to travel to clubs and gymkhanas located at far off places,”he concluded.
Table Tennis is his passion, but he is also a very good professional Singer. This gifted talent has come to him from his father, who was also a very good singer. Ravi manages his time for TT and music very well, with proper planning. This latest Victory at Indian Gymkhana tournament has boosted his morale and also made his well wishers and students happy. Wishing him all the best.