Ever wondered how some players are able to beat the ones who
are much higher ranked than them? They might not be as experienced as the other,
sometimes not even stronger than the other, yet they do the impossible.
In the just concluded Men’s world cup, Aruna Quadri from Nigeria who is the current world no.73 beat
world no.27 Kenta Matsudaira from Japan, world no.37 Shibaev Alexander from Russia and World no.16 Tang Peng from HongKong. How did he do this? Of course he’s playing
the best table tennis of his life at this point, but what’s that one quality
that makes him beat these top ranked players?
It’s SELF BELIEF.
Sharath Kamal and Subhajit Saha beat Ma Lin and Zhang Jike from
China in Men Doubles round of 32 in the 2012 Asian Championship. How did they
do this?
Again, it’s the clichéd SELF BELIEF.
In matches when we have to play against a higher ranked
opponent, many a times we pay too much attention to the past records and
rankings. Agree or no, most of us do. And that is the culprit. Rankings and records
are just numbers. Because when you step inside the court, the game starts with
love all. Both have an equal probability to win. But in your mind, if you give
too much importance to the rankings and give enormous respect to the opponent
(more than what is required) you have lost already even before starting the
game. If you have worked really hard, but you fail to believe in yourself, you will
waste all the effort you had made.
I truly believe that it doesn’t matter if you are up
against the no.1 player in your district, state, country or the entire world,you must
have the belief that you are going to win. Go to the match as a winner. To beat
your opponent, regardless of his/her ranking. You first need to have that
positive attitude, and then believe in yourself that you can really do it.
Look around yourself, maybe you too did something similar in
the past, then what’s stopping you to do it all over again? The answer lies
within you!
Many times even the coaches fail to show their confidence in
their student. That’s really upsetting. When we are drawn up against any Chinese,
or Korean or a Japanese, generally the player is told that “Oh it’s a tough
match, so just go enjoy or just give your best”. Well of course we need to
enjoy and give in our best, but what is most important is to show the belief
that the player will win. It certainly makes a huge difference.
Table tennis is a short game. During the proceedings of the
game you never know, one or two good shots from your side, one or two edge
balls, an off day for the opponent and he/she is under pressure.
Sport is beautiful. It gives equal opportunity to each and
every player irrespective of his/ her ranking, country, religion, colour, or
whatever bias one can think of.
Why not seize the opportunity?
Believe in yourself, you never know, you end up surprising
yourself and that’s when miracles happen and that’s how history is created.
