Yashaswini’s birthday gift for long-time coach

Moments after being crowned the new National table tennis champion, Yashaswini Ghorpade embraced her long-time coach and mentor, Anshuman Roy, who has guided her since she first picked up a racquet 15 years ago. Roy leaned in and whispered, “Thank you for the best birthday gift.”

It was only then that Yashaswini realised she had completely forgotten her coach’s birthday amid her focus on the tournament.

“Actually, I had forgotten about his birthday. It’s really, really bad because I don’t remember dates and days when I am competing in a tournament. So I did apologise to him, but we will make it up by having a party,” the 21-year-old told The Hindu on Saturday.

Anshuman, however, had no complaints. “I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift than Yashu becoming the National champion for the first time,” he said. “She has made it a memorable birthday for my lifetime.”

Just before the embrace, Yashaswini stood tall and pointed her right index finger to the sky, recreating tennis star Ben Shelton’s trademark celebration. Beyond visualising herself lifting the trophy, she had been waiting nearly two years to replicate that celebration — and managed to do it for the second successive day, having first unveiled it after her quarterfinal win over top seed Sreeja Akula.

“That celebration was inspired by Ben Shelton, of course. He is an icon from the tennis world, so I was really thinking about doing this after a very big win,” Yashaswini said. “I think I have to come up with one more celebration of my own and not copy others. So I will think about it for the next one.”

For now, Yashaswini has every reason to celebrate — both her maiden national title and a memorable moment shared with her coach.