Cossipore:

A 19-year-old whose mother sold her harmonium to buy his first table tennis kit has been the state champion in the game for two years in a row.

Anirban Ghosh spends more than four hours travelling from his Naihati home to a Cossipore club for practice everyday. The journey home in a crowded local train is particularly taxing after a long day’s practice.

The teenager’s father played para cricket to run the family before setting up a mini-recharge shop near Naihati station five years ago. The financial worries of Abhijit, 54, and wife Kakali, 46, have somewhat abated because of a sports stipend of Rs 18,000 that their son has been getting from the Airports Authority of India since last year.

Anirban won the state championships in both the youth (U-21) and men’s categories in 2016 and did an encore this year.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Home> Calcutta / by Debraj Mitra / December 21st, 2017