Mantu Ghosh (born 1973/1974) is an Indian former

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

player from

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

. As a two-time national champion, Ghosh is now the coach of India's table tennis women's team and a sports administrator after previously working in different capacities at the state and the national level. She was featured in the ''

Limca Book of Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorized into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, advent ...

'' for becoming India's youngest national table tennis champion in 1990 at age 16. In 2002, her achievements were recognised by the

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is a branch of the Government of India which administers the Department of youth affairs and the Department of Sports in India. Anurag Thakur is the current Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports followed ...

and the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, which awarded her the

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, on ...

National career

Ghosh is one of the first prominent table tennis players from

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

, which is now considered the "nursery" of table tennis players in India after many went on to become national champions and Olympians. Ghosh began training at Deshbandhu Sporting Union and won the 1988 Sub-Junior National Championship as a trainee at the club. She won the Junior National Table Tennis Championship in 1990, the same year she participated in the 52nd Senior National Table Tennis Championship held at

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known as ...

, Rajasthan. Winning the title, she became India's youngest national table tennis champion at age 16, an achievement that featured in the ''

''. Her victory at the national championship motivated more players in Siliguri to pursue table tennis. In 1993, she won the singles title at the 55th Senior National Table Tennis Championship.

International career

Ghosh competed in all events of

table tennis at the 2002 Commonwealth Games The inaugural table tennis competition at the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place in Manchester, England from 25 July - 4 August 2002. Medallists Table tennis medal table by country Men's singles Women's singles Men's doubles Women's ...

held in Manchester, England. She failed to advance beyond the first round of singles; reached the quarterfinals of doubles – paired with

Indu Nagapattinam R. Indu or INDU may refer to: * $INDU, a symbol for the Dow Jones Industrial Average * Chandra, the Hindu moon deity * South Asians, peoples of the South Asian background in South Asian and West Indian regions. (I.E. Indu-Chinese & Indo-Trini) *A fil ...

– and eventually ranked fifth; and reached the third round of mixed doubles, pairing with Subramaniam Raman, The Indian team – consisting of Ghosh,

Mouma Das Mouma Das (born 24 February 1984) is an Indian table tennis player. Born and brought up in Kolkata, West Bengal, she has represented India in international events since the early 2000s. Das has won multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games inc ...

, Indu Nagapattinam R.,

Nandita Saha Nandita Saha is an Indian table-tennis player. She was a part of Indian trio who defeated Canada in Common wealth 2006 at Melbourne and won Bronze medal for India. She won Bronze Medal in Women's singles in Senior National TT Championship in 201 ...

, and

Poulomi Ghatak Poulomi Ghatak (Bengali: পৌলমী ঘটক; born 3 January 1983) is a table tennis player from West Bengal, India. She won three junior national championships (1996, 1998 and 1999) as well as seven senior national championships between ...

– finished sixth. Ghosh qualified for the main draw of the

2003 World Table Tennis Championships The 2003 World Table Tennis Championships was held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from May 19 to May 25, 2003. It was the 47th edition to be contested. Liebherr is the title sponsor of the Championships. Medal summary Me ...

held in Paris, France, participating the singles and doubles events. Malaysian paddler Yao Lin Jing defeated Ghosh in the first round of singles by 12–10, 11–6, 11–3, 11–5; the pair Mauma Das and Ghosh lost against the Singaporean pair of Xueling Zhang and

Tan Paey Fern Tan Paey Fern () is a Singaporean table tennis Player. Tan was talent-scouted by ex-National Table Tennis Coach, Mr. Foo Soo Peng, when she was playing table tennis casually with her brother and some friends at the age of 9. Tan was a very de ...

by 11–8, 7–11, 5–11, 2–11, 11–8, 7–11 in doubles.

Post-retirement

After retirement, Ghosh began to coach players and became a part of different organisations related to table tennis at the state and the national level. She is the Chief Coach at the Young Men's Association's table tennis coaching centre in Siliguri. She was the national coach for the women's team and prepared the team for the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

. She trained both

Soumyajit Ghosh Soumyajit Ghosh (born 10 May 1993) is an Indian table tennis player from Siliguri, West Bengal. He was the youngest Indian player to qualify for the London, 2012 Olympics. He also became the youngest national champion at the age of 19, whe ...

and

Ankita Das Ankita Das (born 17 July 1993) is an Indian table tennis player from Siliguri, West Bengal. She participated in World Championship and reached quarter-finals. She represented India at the 2012 London Summer Olympics in Women's singles even ...

, who qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in their respective categories. In 2016, she was appointed as the vice-chairperson of the North Bengal Board for Development of Sports and Games by the

Chief Minister of West Bengal The Chief Minister of West Bengal is the representative of the Government of India in the state of West Bengal and the head of the executive branch of the Government of West Bengal. The chief minister is head of the Council of Ministers and ap ...

, Mamata Banarjee. The board, with

Bhaichung Bhutia Bhaichung Bhutia (born 15 December 1976), also spelled as Baichung Bhutia, is an Indian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Bhutia is considered as the torchbearer of Indian football in the international arena. He is often n ...

as its chairman, is based at

Kanchenjunga Stadium The Kanchenjunga Stadium, also known as Kanchanjungha Krirangan, is a multi-purpose stadium in Siliguri, India. It is mainly used for cricket and football matches. Built in the 1980s, the stadium holds a capacity of 40,000, and currently the hom ...

and is responsible for developing and promoting sports in the seven districts of North Bengal. In 2017, she became a joint-secretary of the

Table Tennis Federation of India The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) is the governing body for table tennis in India. The TTFI was established in 1926, and was a founding member of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). TTFI's membership includes 32 state unit ...

. She is also joint secretary of the Bengal State Table Tennis Association and is a past president of the North Bengal Table Tennis Association.

Awards and honours

In 2002, Ghosh received the

from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the

in recognition of her achievements. On 20 May 2013, she received the

Banga Bhushan Banga Bhushan ( bn, বঙ্গভূষণ) is a title instituted by the West Bengal Government The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of t ...

title, a civil honour of the West Bengal state, from the Governor of West Bengal, M. K. Narayanan.

Personal life

Ghosh is from Siliguri, West Bengal. She is married to Subrata Roy, a table tennis coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Mantu Living people Sportswomen from West Bengal People from Siliguri 21st-century Indian women 21st-century Indian people Racket sportspeople from West Bengal Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian female table tennis players 1970s births Table tennis players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for India