Generally sportspersons take up sports administration after their retirement from sports. But, Yogesh Desai is an exception. A former national level player from Gujarat he shifted to Mumbai some years ago. But, his passion for the game of table tennis did not diminish. He continued to play at the competitive level till the age of 48 in men’s section. And later started playing in Veterans section and displayed his good form by winning the national titles in different age groups, such as 50+, 60+ and 65 + section. He won his last national title last year in Men’s 65+ at Jaipur beating former International Suhas Kulkarni in the finals. And in this current season he has won his third consecutive title in the Maharashtra State Veterans Ranking TT Tournaments in Men’s 65+ age group.
It may be recalled that Yogesh had served as Joint Hon Secretary of MSDTTA for almost four years but in the beginning of this year he resigned from this association on ideological differences. Thereafter, Mr. Arwind Prabhu CEO of Prabodhankar Thackeray Kreeda Sankul ( PTKS) , Vile Parle, the biggest sports hub in Mumbai suburbs ,noticed a committed player and an efficient administrator in him and welcomed him to promote the game of Table Tennis activities at PTKS.
During the past six months Yogesh has worked so hard at PTKS with the support of their TT Secretary Sameer Bhatye that both of them together not only launched the Stag-PTKS TT Training academy productively, but also organized this Third State Ranking Veterans’ TT Tournament with proper planning. With all the support coming from Suhas Dandekar , The Maharashtra State table tennis Association, the technical team of PTKS comprising of Rakesh Nigudkar, Naveen Verghese, Manish Deodhar, Kdar Khadilkar ,Ravi Joshi and above all the Sponsor of this tournament Pinakin Sampat , this tournament received a grand success .
But, there is much more in the pipeline. Now, next month, Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) have also selected the PTKS venue for their Mumbai District Inter Schools TT tournament, in which 1200 school children will participate from different schools in Mumbai . So, this will be one more feather in his cap. And, once again Yogesh has been very instrumental in promoting PTKS venue with proper infrastructure needed for conduct of bigger competitions.
This is not enough. In the recently concluded State Ranking Veterans TT Tournament at PTKS, he also displayed his own game skills in Table Tennis , when he won his 3rd successive title in Men’s Singles 65+ group , besides steering his team PTKS into the finals of Men’s 60 team event and winning the runners up trophy with the support of his team mates. Yogeshbhai as he is popularly known in TT field, believes in simple philosophy- “ Winning without boasting and losing without an excuse makes you a real champion.” With his helpful nature he has already made thousands of friends in this table tennis field not only in India but also abroad. Magzmumbai wishes him all the best for his forthcoming events.