Kolkata: Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) is confident that newly-appointed foreign coach Dejan Papic will be back with the team by the first week of November but in order to make sure that preparations do not take a beating they are trying to rope in a replacement for the interim period.
Papic was appointed the coach in July but later it was learnt that the Canadian's joining will be delayed due to a knee surgery he has undergone. The Indian team, led by top-ranked paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, have been without a coach since the 2018 Asian Games.
Though table tennis in the country is doing really well with the recently-concluded Asian Table Tennis Championships witnessing the team finishing fifth, its best ever results, after beating Hong Kong 3-1, their preparations are not being ideal due to lack of a coach.