About Me

About Me…

I am Saee Kulkarni, a professional Table tennis player. I am 12 years old. I stay in Pune. I have been playing since 2017. Professional and dedicated coaches, steady family support and my hunger to achieve perfection, are paving the way for my success.

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My Journey So Far…

Early training and regular practice is the key to my current success. As a child, I was very active and loved all sorts of sports. No amount of playtime was enough for me. I saw a game a table tennis that kindled my curiosity. Seeing my inclination towards it. I was enrolled in and started my professional training in 2017.

For initial years, I received standard elementary training- from holding the bat correctly, developing right posture to learning forehand and backhand strokes, I started getting into a shape. I completed smaller goals set by my coaches. Once my coaches saw improvement in my performance, my intermediate training started.

I learnt topspin, curves and various other serves and spent about a year practicing the same. Seeing my potential, my coach encouraged me to participate in a District level competition. In this first professional match, I lost to a second seeded player. Nonetheless, we continued to identify and work on weak points and in the second tournament, I reached the finals and won second position.

Encouraged by the success, I participated in State level competition. With the right attitude and constant improvement, I stood third in the competition and won a Bronze medal. Playing and winning on our home pitch is something closest to any player’s heart. I got this opportunity when Radiant Sports Club organized a District level competition. I was able to reach the semifinals and in Final, I had the first seeded player as my opponent. It was a five set decider match. With a balance of attack and defense, I was able to win the Final and the stood first place in this Pune District Championship.

By the end of 2019, I bagged two State Level and five District Level medals. With the beginning of 2020, my advanced training started. The pandemic of covid brought everything to a halt. But as they say ,

Best athlete is made during off season.

Despite limited practice, I was able to represent Pune team in Maharashtra State Championship.

In 2021, I was selected for State Championship Tournament, as part of U13 Pune team. I also completed the criterion for selection in U15 Pune team. Maharashtra State Table Tennis Association conducted two state ranking tournaments and one State Championship. In all three tournaments, I managed to be in Top 16 players in the state. I participated in two National level championships- at Mohali and Pondichery. That was a good national level experience.

In 2022, I started training with Champions Table Tennis club. I participated and won the title of U13 Girls category at Pune District Championship conducted by Sharada Centre. At the Youth Games conducted at Dervan, Chiplun, I managed to grab one Gold medal in U13 Girls category and one bronze medal in U15 Girls category. As rightly said by Daniel Ives,

If you want to win at Table Tennis you must hit every ball with a purpose.

I strive to follow this and wish for many more wins in future….

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My Fitness Regime…

Success is impossible without self-discipline.

I live by this rule. I do not train for the sake of training but for me my training IS my competition. To quote a great player,

You win or lose a match even before you play the first ball.

Mental strength is vital not only for winning but for even getting competitive. I train hard as that is the only way to make my game better every day. Many factors contribute to achieve high-level of performance. Along with natural ability for sport, proper training plays an integral part in building the base. I am receiving training to increase my stamina, physical and mental fitness.

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My Goals…

Setting an achievable goal and chasing it every day bit by bit is an expert method.

I believe in hard-earned success rather than easy, temporary short cuts. Therefore, to sum, I wish to start by getting my District (2), State (2) and National rankings upgraded.

For the greater goal- I aspire to be considered one of the best player of my time someday, achieve International recognition and bring pride to my Nation and my Parents.