New Delhi: India’s elite table tennis players could soon have the services of a head coach after six years with Italy’s Massimo Costantini likely to return to the country for his third stint with the national team. Costantini’s previous tenures with the Indian team came in 2009-2010 and 2016-2018. The 65-year-old’s second stint culminated with India’s historic performance at the 2018 Asian Games where the country won a table tennis medal for the very first time.

The sport’s graph rose sharply following the historic performance in the Asian Games but for some reason, the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) was not able to find Costantini’s successor. However, as things stand, the Italian is set for his longest tenure with the national side.

A TTFI official told PTI that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) is currently negotiating a four-year contract with the Costantini, who is better known as ‘Max’ in the table tennis fraternity.

The TTFI had recommended names of three more foreign coaches to SAI but Costantini has emerged as the front runner considering his friendly rapport with the players and his immense knowledge of how the sport is run in the country.

The major development comes on the day when
India was assured of its Olympic qualificatio
n in team events (both men and women) for the first time.

“The SAI could approve Max’s appointment as early as next week. The Olympics are not far away and the sooner he joins the team the better. He is liked by all the players and that should work in his favour,” said the official.

In the absence of a head coach, Indian coaches Arup Basak, Sourav Chakraborty and Mamta Prabhu accompanied the players in major events including the 2022 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. They were also courtside in the recent World Team Championships in Busan.

Indian squad to train in Asia, Europe ahead of Olympics

The men and women, who qualified for the Paris Olympics based on their world rankings after pre-quarterfinals appearances in the World Championship last month, are expected to train across Asia and Europe ahead of the Olympics in July-August.

“The preparation will involve both training and competition and the players could have a camp in China and Korea before shifting their base to Europe closer to the Olympics,” the official added.