Focus, grit, glory: Manush Shah's path to his first senior Nationals Title

Shah, up against a young Payas Jain, was hyper-focused. He had two championship points in the fifth game, yet called a time-out even with an empty seat in the coach’s corner.

“I felt I was rushing a bit at 10-7 [the point which he lost],” said Manush to The Bridge after the win. “I wanted to calm myself down.

“We were approaching the end of the match, so I wanted some solid plan to be executed because I was going to serve,” he added.

There were barely any emotions on display during the final as he raced to a 10-12, 11-6, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8 win.

As soon as Manush landed his final shot right after the time out – a forehand backing away to the right to catch Payas by surprise – he raised both his arms. A roar followed two seconds later, and an even louder one just after.

However, it was only on the podium, holding the trophy aloft, that Manush would let a smile out over the course of the week at the Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Stadium.

“I don’t like to smile during the match,” he let out a laugh. “It is always a very competitive sport, individual sport.”

The long road to victory

Manush has been on the Indian table tennis map for almost a decade. He was crowned the sub-junior national champion in 2015. Three years later he took the youth and junior national title.

“After Corona, it was difficult for me to come to this level, where I am at right now,” explained Manush. “This started in 2015 [journey to the title] and it took nine years to complete.

“I am happy that today I won one of the biggest titles in table tennis at my home state,” he added.

The 24-year-old from Vadodara was nowhere near table tennis during the first ten years of his life.

It was only after strict guidelines from doctors to stay out of outdoor sports after an unfortunate accident in school, which left him on six-month bed rest and his kidney damaged that he moved to table tennis. Until then, cricket was his first love.

Manush has since grown in the sport and has established himself as one of India’s topmost players.

The preparations for the nationals, for Manush, started almost six months back. He had specifically targeted to be in his peak shape come the second half of January – something which has paid him rich dividends in recent times. 

He is currently in the middle of a rich run of form, having taken down World No. 37 Maharu Yoshimura and World No. 31 Sora Matsushima at the WTT Contender event in Muscat, Oman earlier this month.

The two big wins helped him climb as high as world No. 78 in the men’s singles rankings. He is also ranked No. 10 in the world in men’s doubles alongside childhood friend Manav Thakkar.

But the southpaw is not yet satisfied.

“By the end of the first half of 2025, I would like to enter the top 60,” Manush declared. “By the end of the year, I would be in the solid top 50, that’s the goal as far as singles is concerned.

“In men’s doubles Manav and I want to enter the top four. In mixed doubles Diya [Chitale] and I would like to enter the top 10, considering her form it looks good,” he signed off.