Competing at the national level for a sport requires years of dedication and training, and it’s no different for table tennis. Senior Muskan Gupta and senior Arnav Khinvasara have both been playing table tennis for many years and are currently competing at the national level, according to usatt.org. Gupta started playing table tennis after attending a few sessions at a local club around seven years ago, she said.
“I was trying a bunch of things that summer,” Gupta said. “I remember I tried guitar, I was doing art, and a bunch of other stuff. I guess it’s like the only one that really stuck.”
What made table tennis stick was the influence of Gupta’s first table tennis teacher, she said.
“I had a really good coach at the time,” Gupta said. “She was my first coach, and she was the sister
of the number one player in the United States for mens (singles). She was really nice to me, and she
became my close friend. I think her motivating me to keep going was what really made me stick to
table tennis.”
Competing at the national level wasn’t always Gupta’s goal; initially, she just wanted to stay active, she said. “Honestly, I didn’t think I’d get here,” Gupta said. “I have had a lot of obstacles in my way since I
was little. I always hoped I could be at that level, but I think another part of me always just thought that I would never get here.”
Before becoming a part of the national team, Gupta had to climb the rankings in her division, she said. “You need to be within the top eight (for your age group) of the country to compete for it, so I competed for the U-19 girls,” Gupta said. “There’s also sets where you also have to be top four to compete, such as in the Pan American Games.” Gupta’s path to becoming a member of the national table tennis team also involved complications with her residential status, she said.
“My number one obstacle was that I wasn’t a U.S. citizen,” Gupta said. “So I couldn’t even try to compete to be on the national team. And when I finally did get my citizenship, COVID-19 happened. But from there I just kept working, I kept motivating myself, and I am where I am because of it.”
As a member of the national team, Gupta and her teammates qualified for the International
Table Tennis Federation World Youth Championships in 2023, which took place in Slovenia, she
said. “You have to first compete in the Pan American Youth Games,” Gupta said. “We competed
against countries from around the Americas. The team that wins gets to play in World Youth, and
we won.”
Khinvasara started playing table tennis for fun in third grade, but it eventually became his main
sport, he said. “I played other sports at the time too, like soccer, until around seventh grade, ” Khinvasara said. The path to becoming a nationally ranked player was not easy, especially at the start, Khinvasara said.
“I was not good (when starting out),” Khinvasara said. “I had to work really hard, and I still do. I
was close to making the national team last year, and that’s my goal for this year.”
The amount of motivation Khinvasara had for the sport was also essential to his success, he
said. “I actually quit for a year because I just got really demotivated,” Khinvasara said. “It was hard to like seeing people really high up at the same age as me at first, but I had to work hard to get back
to competing with them.”
Khinvasara also participated in the 2023 U.S. National Championships in the under 2400 ratings category, a ratings system for table tennis players based on their wins, he said.
“There are different events that you play based on your rating,” Khinvasara said. “It was a particularly memorable moment to win (U-19 singles).”
Ultimately, table tennis is a sport that has taught Khinvasara lessons that he brings into his own life, he said. “It taught me resilience because you’re often down a lot in matches and games, and you have to have it in you to come back,” Khinvasara said. “That’s what’s really important.”