He has three National Masters’ titles in Men’s 39+ group, to his credit. Soft spoken and cool n calm Abu Rizwan is here in Mumbai to participate in IMPTTA – National Masters’ Table Tennis tournament, which is in progress at the Andheri Sports Complex. Magzmumbai spoke to this passionate TT player, about his favourite game and his expectations for the development of this game in India.
Reigning National Masters’ TT Champ Abu Rizwan( R) from West Bengal welcomed by Moonmoon Mukherjee from Maharashtra at the Andheri Sports Complex.
“ I represented CAG at the TT Nationals and Inter Institutional TT tournaments at the All India level and had an opportunity to play with the best players in the country. Now, I am continuing in the 39+ Masters’ event, because I love this game, which takes us to places for all India and International TT tournaments.”
Abu was frank enough to admit that he came all the way to Mumbai to play in this tournament, because he wanted to experience this competition, which is hosted by an All India Master Players’ body for all Master players from different states of India. It’s an opportunity to meet our friends from different parts of the country who have a common interest and that is playing this game passionately. “ I thank Mr. Sameer Bhate for making it possible.”
When asked about the future of Masters’ Table Tennis in India, he said, “ There is growing demand for this game, especially in the Masters’ events, as people after crossing 40+ need some activity to keep themselves fit, by relieving their work stress. In the case of all those 60+ players, it is a way of keeping them engaged in a competitive activity, besides keeping them healthy.”
Last year Abu won Gold medal at the Commonwealth Masters TT Championship in Hyderabad. He had also won a medal in the World Masters’ TT Championship at Muscat in January 2023, along with 18 others from India. It was a big achievement by the Master players from our country and all these medal winners expected some sort of appreciation from the Table Tennis Federation of India and the Government of India, Ministry of Sports. But, that did not happen. Even Abu feels disappointed . “ We don’t expect big awards, but atleast they should have appreciated the efforts of all these senior players, who represented our country. At the same time, we expect big corporate houses coming forward to encourage these senior players, so that more and more people get attracted to this activity which is good for overall fitness after 40,” he concluded.