GLOBE WEST 1 / SPORTS
Thoughts of table tennis might prompt a vision of a recreationcenter or a setup in the basement. But across the Pacific Ocean, thegame is serious business.
A quick glance at Rajeev Sharma's equipment bag reveals as much.
His custom-made shoes, ordered directly from Mizuno headquartersin Japan, sell for $100. His paddle goes for roughly $160. Heestimates the cost of the rubber surfaces attached on both sides ofthe paddle at $35 each.
The six tables his club uses twice a week at the Boroughs YMCA inWestborough are specially ordered from France, with a price tag ofroughly $1,500 apiece.
Even the glue to attach the rubber is rare. Sharma prefers aspecial substance nicknamed 'speed glue,' at $13 per bottle, directfrom Japan. The glue, which will be banned by the InternationalTable Tennis Federation on Sept. 1, gives considerably more bounceto the paddle, allowing one to hit quicker and with more power - butit must be changed every 15 to 20 days.
Then he uses a special paintbrush-type roller to stick the rubberon the paddle.
'Good table tennis products, you cannot get in a shop in theUnited States,' said Sharma.
The Marlborough resident first picked up the sport as a 7-year-old in New Delhi, practicing constantly on surfaces ranging fromdining room tables to elevated slabs of concrete. At 15, he waschosen for his state's junior select squad.
But a more dutiful focus on his career as an informationtechnology analyst put a hold on his table tennis career, and senthim off to the Netherlands for three years. He finally settled inMarlborough in 2001, but with an itch to pick up the game again.
A very passionate itch. Sharma, now 33, specially orders his gearfrom Japan and through websites such as PaddlePalace and KillerSpin.
He ordered his equipment and then turned to the Internet tosearch for local clubs. He discovered the Boston Table Tennis Clubin Medford, home of last weekend's Bay State Games competition and avenue he visits regularly.
With a vicious topspin, Sharma and his partner, Thomas Chung,captured a gold medal in the doubles competition on Saturday,defeating Dennis Coppola and Beau Freund in the final. In thesemifinals, the duo beat Jacopo Novelli and Nhat Nam Trinh - thelatter of whom won gold in singles.
Since moving to the United States, Sharma has been a prominentfixture as a competitor and promoter of the game.
As a player, Sharma likes to be the aggressor. With a 'shake-hand' grip, and often using a back-kick to try and transfer moremomentum, he delivers powerful strokes to stay on the offensive. Hisdefense, he acknowledges, needs a bit of tweaking.
Not that it's a bad thing. Better paddle technology hasencouraged more players to be the aggressor, rather than sit back.
'There are less defensive players now, and more offensiveplayers,' he said. 'You have to keep up.'
And again, Sharma is serious. He bikes 20 miles a week to stay intop condition.
'He's a fierce competitor, very intense,' said Kurt Douty, aFramingham resident who plays with him frequently. 'Win or lose,he's going down with his fastball, whether it's over the plate ornot.'
Sharma has participated in the US Open five times, his besteffort coming in doubles action in 2006, when he made it to theround of 16. Last year, at the North American Team Championships, inRockville, Md., his team 'Mass Monsters' was a finalist in thefourth division.
Last October, Sharma helped form a club, Table Tennis Rocks. Onoccasion, he teams up with Douty to put on exhibitions at middleschools in the area. The two are currently hoping to stage anexhibition at the Natick Collection.
'He's grateful to the other players, in trying to promote thesport,' said Douty, who works as both the community outreach managerat Westwood's New England Sports Academy, and as a personal trainerat Medford's Get In Shape for Women. 'In recognizing the success ofthe sport, he's well-respected.'
Every Wednesday, Sharma holds a tournament at the Boroughs YMCA.He also makes regular trips to Medford and Manville, R.I., duringthe week, playing on average four days a week.
His job as an IT analyst at the Westborough-based Sysman Inc.makes it tough to balance it all.
'I sneak out a little bit sometimes,' he laughed. 'I work latenights.'
But he's even got a solution for that. He says he is trying toset up 'inter-office leagues' among companies in the area.
There's no name for the league yet, but one thing he won't callit is 'ping-pong.' It's a brand name, he says.
And, after all, he's serious about the sport.
Brendan Hall can be reached at bhall59@hotmail.com.
