Exclusive | From broken Olympics dream to beating Olympian for senior national TT title: The Diya Chitale story | More sports News

Diya Chitale along with her coach Sachin Shetty

NEW DELHI: It was 2023. Nearly two years had handed since India achieved its best-ever tally of seven medals on the Olympic Games in Tokyo. With new data being set and the nation’s requirements in Olympic sports raised, Tokyo 2020 ignited a never-seen-before spark amongst aspiring athletes throughout varied disciplines, all keen to make their mark on the national degree and maybe safe a spot within the Paris 2024 Olympics.
However, not everybody received the possibility to dwell that dream. For budding paddler Diya Chitale, the dream of competing in Paris was shattered by an unexpected foot harm.
“That was the year they were selecting players for the 2024 Olympic Games. The team was going to be finalised. But in October 2023, I suffered a stress fracture in my left foot. As a result, I couldn’t compete in two national tournaments or the national championships. I was not fully fit,” Diya tells TimesofIndia.com.
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Fast ahead to January 2025, and Diya Chitale has now develop into a extra mature model of herself. That maturity shone by way of within the ultimate of the Senior National Table Tennis Championships, the place she confronted one among India’s greatest and now an Olympian, Sreeja Akula.

Overcoming a 0-2 deficit, Diya staged a outstanding comeback to make it 4-3, clinching her maiden senior national title on the age of 21.
“Becoming the Senior National Champion was one of my dreams. I had won at the U-15, U-18, and U-21 levels, but never in the senior women’s category. It was something I really wanted to achieve,” says the paddler, who’s at the moment recovering from a shoulder harm.

Table Tennis: No Longer Just a ‘Hobby’

Unlike many athletes who start their journey with structured teaching from an early age, Diya’s introduction to desk tennis was unplanned. “It was just a hobby,” she admits. “I was very active as a child, and during family vacations, we would always play table tennis. I started practising at Khar Gymkhana, but the turning point came in 2014 when I won silver at the U-12 National Championships. That’s when my hobby turned into my passion.”

Preparation was key for the starlet. Along along with her coach, Sachin Shetty, she spent months strategising and tailoring her coaching to counter India’s top-ranked gamers.
“We were really well-prepared, both in terms of gameplay and mental strength,” she recollects. “At a tournament like the Nationals, everyone wants to win, but being mentally strong is just as important as physical skill.”
Born right into a household of medical doctors and lecturers, Diya by no means felt the stress of teachers, thanks to her supportive dad and mom, Reshma and Parag Chitale. “They have truly been my pillars of strength,” she shares. “We never had discussions about whether I should pursue sports professionally or focus entirely on academics. Whatever decision I made, they always supported me. When I went abroad for long-term training, my mom even travelled with me.”

Diya’s college, Arya Vidya Mandir, additionally performed a vital position in her journey, offering her with the flexibleness to stability her teachers with desk tennis. “I was lucky to receive that support from my family and everyone around me,” she continues.

‘The Shift in the Indian Mindset’

The rise of desk tennis in India echoes a shift in societal attitudes, in accordance to Diya. She believes the standard emphasis on teachers over sports is steadily altering.

“Earlier, the focus in India was primarily on studies and academics. But I think that is really changing now. In the past few years, many people have taken up sports professionally and made it a career. I also think people are now watching a wider variety of sports beyond cricket, and other disciplines are getting much more recognition. Look at what (PV) Sindhu and Saina (Nehwal) did for badminton. I believe the same is happening in table tennis, with many Indian players making their way into the top world rankings,” says the Mumbai-born athlete, who lately accomplished her BBA from Chitkara University.

A Dream of an Olympic Medal

A typical coaching day for Diya is something however peculiar. “I practice twice a day — once in the morning and once in the evening — with each session lasting around two and a half hours, plus two hours of fitness training,” says Diya, a thriller TV collection buff who now barely has time to take pleasure in them.
Her routine additionally contains psychological wellness workout routines and dealing with a sports psychologist to preserve her focus.

Her aggressive enjoying fashion, powered by the paddle floor of plain rubber, units her aside.
“I’m an attacking player from both my forehand and backhand. There are many, many players in India who play with different kinds of materials. I prefer a plain rubber paddle — no other material — because it suits my aggressive approach,” Diya tells TimesofIndia.com.
While mirroring a glimpse of her ambition, she concludes, “My immediate goal is to break into the top 50 in the world rankings. In mixed doubles, my partner Manush and I are already in the top 15, and we want to break into the top 10 and compete for a medal at major international events. But of course, the ultimate dream is always to win a medal for India at the Olympics.”
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