Backhand and forehand smashes, computer science sophomore Rohit Sen displayed his professional table tennis skills at the MSU Chinese Undergraduate Students Association, or CUSA, MSU Table Tennis Club and Michigan State University Confucius Institute, or CI-MSU, table tennis tournament.
Sen started playing table tennis for his school back in India, leading him to eventually playing professionally for his federation in India.
He said the atmosphere in table tennis in India is different compared to the atmosphere in the United States.
“Just imagine everyone being extremely good at (table tennis),” Sen said. “From seventh grade I started and then slowly I became better. ... Then I joined the federation of my state (in India).”
After joining the federation in his state of West Bengal, Sen was ranked 264th, but eventually reached the West Bengal Table Tennis Association championship in ninth grade—where he then lost twice in the finals—Sen said.
Sen hasn’t been the only one to play competitively. Doctoral candidate Xiangrui Tian played for Nanjing Agricultural University in China.
“Every year at my university, there’s a game," Tian said. "All of the students and faculty join in the game and we have different teams from different colleges.”
In this competition, Tian ranked first and won the doubles competition, which he prefers over singles, he said.
“I don’t have any systematic or professional training ... my basic skills aren’t very good,” Tian said. “I play for fun.”
With this, Tian said he uses more of his strength in table tennis, rather than using finesse and skill.
“My movement is very fast, but not very stable and sometimes in the the doubles game they need two styles of players: one is stable and another one is strong and fast,” Tian said.
Sen said there’s a difference in competition and skill in competitive play between the U.S. and India, and that an event like this is more casual.
”Most of the people when they play casually they don’t have the proper grip or the proper spins,” Sen said.
However, this hasn’t stopped Sen from playing competitively in the U.S.
“I visited the ping pong club in IM (Sports) West (and) they were pretty decent,” Sen said. “If I got a little bit of practice, I could slowly get into competitive play here.”
The game of table tennis isn’t just for competitive play, as it can help MSU students socialize with their peers. Table tennis is seen more as a social sport here in the United States, compared to other countries, journalism junior and tournament director Jerry Liu said.
“When playing (table) tennis, you can make many friends,” Liu said. “I think this is more likely a social sport here in the United States, I’d love to gather more people to play this tournament for the future years.”
Sen said he uses table tennis to help him make new friends in the United States.
“It’s a very nice distraction from college life itself and it makes me feel better about myself,” Sen said. “I see all these people coming out together to play competitively, it’s a community almost.”
