Kohli's aggression and Hardik's grit fuel young paddler Ankur's rise in table tennis

An ardent fan of Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, rising Indian paddler Ankur Bhattacharjee once aspired to be a cricketer before shifting to table tennis, but his love for cricket still remains.

The 18-year-old is big admirer of Kohli's aggression and Hardik's mental strength and wants to imbibe those qualities into his game.

"There is a lot of aggression in my game, so I admire Virat Kohli sir's aggressive attitude. I also love Hardik Pandya sir's mental strength. I follow both a lot and try to bring their qualities into my game," Ankur told PTI.

Despite turning pro in table tennis, his love for cricket still remains and he doesn't miss a single India match.

But after taking up table tennis, his only goal was to fulfil his parents' dream.

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"I love cricket a lot and try not to miss a single India match. I wanted to be a cricketer but my father and mother both were table tennis players and they are my personal coach too," Ankur said.

"My mother pressured me by saying everyone plays cricket, you play table tennis. Then I started playing and I loved it.

"Both my father (Angshuman Bhattacharjee) and mother (Kuntali Bhattacharjee) were national level players."

Ankur is currently participating in the sixth season of the Ultimate Table Tennis League for Kolkata Thunder Blades.

"This year I feel our team is stronger than last year. My form is also better than last year, so I feel we can win the title this year," he said.

"UTT is a big platform for youngsters, I feel more such tournaments like UTT should happen. Like last year before playing UTT my India ranking was out of 10, but now I am India ranking 2 in singles.

"I have just returned after playing World Championships and had a decent performance there."

Ankur had already stamped his authority at the junior level, having won the under-19 boys singles title at the Youth National Championships for three years in a row. He has also won three consecutive bronze medals at the Junior Asian Championships.

"I played 6 tournaments at youth level this year and won all of them. This is my first year at senior level and till now I feel I am performing well but I need to take this to the next level," he said.

Just like any other athlete, Ankur's target is to finish on the podium in big international tournaments in future.

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"Just came back after playing World Championships, so the next target is to win a medal for India at Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar this year," he said.

"Just like everyone, my future goal is to win Olympic gold but it is easier said than done. I am not thinking about it now. I am taking one step at a time."

Besides being a table tennis player, Ankur also writes poems in Bengali, a quality which he got from his grandfather.

"I used to write a lot earlier and even written for some books as well. I got inspired to write from my grandfather who was a poet. Now I don't get much time to write but do try as and when I can," he said. PTI