<p>Bengaluru: In table tennis, playing with and against an anti-spin rubber (on the bat) is a complicated affair many paddlers happily avoid. The special kind of rubber, which is flat unlike the pimpled rubbers, essentially helps the one equipped with it to return the spin created by the opponent back to him/her. A top-spin ball is boomeranged into a back spin ball, a no-spin shot is returned with the same effect and so on and so forth. </p>.<p>For some years now, coach Anshuman Roy was on the look out for a player who would be brave enough to adopt to the ‘you get what you give’ style of play with anti-spin rubbers. His search ended when a chirpy little Sakshya Santhosh hopped and jumped into his academy in 2022. </p>.<p>“There are certain kids, you know, who have that spark the moment you look at them. Sakshya was one of them,” recalled Ashutosh, who runs the UTT Skies High Performance Centre in JP Nagar, Bengaluru. </p>.After stepping down as vice president, Dhankhar spending time playing table tennis, doing yoga.<p>“She was doing Bharatnatyam and had an athletic build. She was full of energy and communicative even as a 5-6 year-old. We observed in the first few months that she was a quick learner and had a natural flair in understanding the nuances of ball and spin. So I decided to groom her differently,” explained Ashutosh who trains the youngster with the help of his partner Minhyung Jee, a player and coach from Korea. </p>.<p>After Ayhika Mukerjee, Asian Games bronze medallist and Arjuna Awardee, among the current crop of top Indian players, 10-year-old Sakshya is now settling nicely into the combination of anti-spin rubber for the backhand and short (normal) pimple on the forehand side - making her a tough cookie to crack on the court. Most others, including Manika Batra, Shreeja Akula, Yashashwini Ghorpade, play with the long pimple (backhand) and short pimple (forehand) rubbers. </p>.<p>The coach’s risk began to pay rewards almost immediately. Within 18 months of Sakshya taking to the sport, the youngster became the under-11 national champion, at her maiden appearance in Panchkula last year. After winning four qualifying rounds, she sped past opponents in six main draw rounds to wear the crown. The Bengaluru girl repeated the feat once again this month by clinching the U-11 title at the 2nd UTT National-ranking Table Tennis Championships in New Delhi to be ranked India’s no. 1 in the category. As for the State-ranking events, Sakshya has become a dominant force in both the girls’ U-11 and U-13 sections for over a year now. </p>.<p>“Winning my first-ever nationals was special. In the finals, I had lost the first game but I won the next three (3-1). And she (opponent) was very strong. But still I could beat her,” said Sakshya, a fifth-grader at the Bangalore International Academy in Jayanagar. </p>.<p><em>For feedback, email to dhsports@deccanherald.co.in</em></p>.<p><strong>Highlights</strong></p><p>Name: Sakshya Santhosh Age: 10 Achievements: 2024 National Ranking TT C'ships, Panchkula: Gold. 2025 National Ranking TT C'ships, Bengaluru: Gold. 2025 National Ranking TT C'ships, Delhi: Gold. Ranking: Current India No. 1 in under-11 girls singles category. Karnataka's No. 1 in both U-11 & U-13 singles sections. </p>.<p><strong>Fact file</strong></p><p>Sakshya Santhosh Age: 10 </p><p>Achievements n 2024 National Ranking TT C’ships Panchkula: Gold. n 2025 National Ranking TT C’ships Bengaluru: Gold. n 2025 National Ranking TT C’ships Delhi: Gold. n Ranking: Current India No. 1 in under-11 girls singles category. Karnataka’s No. 1 in both U-11 & U-13 singles sections.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: In table tennis, playing with and against an anti-spin rubber (on the bat) is a complicated affair many paddlers happily avoid. The special kind of rubber, which is flat unlike the pimpled rubbers, essentially helps the one equipped with it to return the spin created by the opponent back to him/her. A top-spin ball is boomeranged into a back spin ball, a no-spin shot is returned with the same effect and so on and so forth. </p>.<p>For some years now, coach Anshuman Roy was on the look out for a player who would be brave enough to adopt to the ‘you get what you give’ style of play with anti-spin rubbers. His search ended when a chirpy little Sakshya Santhosh hopped and jumped into his academy in 2022. </p>.<p>“There are certain kids, you know, who have that spark the moment you look at them. Sakshya was one of them,” recalled Ashutosh, who runs the UTT Skies High Performance Centre in JP Nagar, Bengaluru. </p>.After stepping down as vice president, Dhankhar spending time playing table tennis, doing yoga.<p>“She was doing Bharatnatyam and had an athletic build. She was full of energy and communicative even as a 5-6 year-old. We observed in the first few months that she was a quick learner and had a natural flair in understanding the nuances of ball and spin. So I decided to groom her differently,” explained Ashutosh who trains the youngster with the help of his partner Minhyung Jee, a player and coach from Korea. </p>.<p>After Ayhika Mukerjee, Asian Games bronze medallist and Arjuna Awardee, among the current crop of top Indian players, 10-year-old Sakshya is now settling nicely into the combination of anti-spin rubber for the backhand and short (normal) pimple on the forehand side - making her a tough cookie to crack on the court. Most others, including Manika Batra, Shreeja Akula, Yashashwini Ghorpade, play with the long pimple (backhand) and short pimple (forehand) rubbers. </p>.<p>The coach’s risk began to pay rewards almost immediately. Within 18 months of Sakshya taking to the sport, the youngster became the under-11 national champion, at her maiden appearance in Panchkula last year. After winning four qualifying rounds, she sped past opponents in six main draw rounds to wear the crown. The Bengaluru girl repeated the feat once again this month by clinching the U-11 title at the 2nd UTT National-ranking Table Tennis Championships in New Delhi to be ranked India’s no. 1 in the category. As for the State-ranking events, Sakshya has become a dominant force in both the girls’ U-11 and U-13 sections for over a year now. </p>.<p>“Winning my first-ever nationals was special. In the finals, I had lost the first game but I won the next three (3-1). And she (opponent) was very strong. But still I could beat her,” said Sakshya, a fifth-grader at the Bangalore International Academy in Jayanagar. </p>.<p><em>For feedback, email to dhsports@deccanherald.co.in</em></p>.<p><strong>Highlights</strong></p><p>Name: Sakshya Santhosh Age: 10 Achievements: 2024 National Ranking TT C'ships, Panchkula: Gold. 2025 National Ranking TT C'ships, Bengaluru: Gold. 2025 National Ranking TT C'ships, Delhi: Gold. Ranking: Current India No. 1 in under-11 girls singles category. Karnataka's No. 1 in both U-11 & U-13 singles sections. </p>.<p><strong>Fact file</strong></p><p>Sakshya Santhosh Age: 10 </p><p>Achievements n 2024 National Ranking TT C’ships Panchkula: Gold. n 2025 National Ranking TT C’ships Bengaluru: Gold. n 2025 National Ranking TT C’ships Delhi: Gold. n Ranking: Current India No. 1 in under-11 girls singles category. Karnataka’s No. 1 in both U-11 & U-13 singles sections.</p>
