It will be harsh to expect medal from Ghosh in Olympics: Karlsson

FARIDABAD: Former Table Tennis World Champion, Peter Karlsson believes Olympics-bound paddlers Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das deserved their place in the London Games but insisted that it would not be right to expect something big from the two Indians at the marquee event.
"They deserved their places in the Olympics, nobody has handpicked them, they have performed that is why they are there," Karlsson said.
"Ghosh is very talented and hard working, but there are at least four or may be more than four years still left for him to be in the reckoning. It will not be realistic to think that he can do something big in this Olympics, though, going by what I have seen of him, he should be able to create a few upsets," said Karalsson, who has trained Ghosh under the Olympic Solidarity program at his academy in Sweden.
"Probably 2020 will be the right time for him, when he will be at the peak of his career," he added.
The former Olympian feels the London Games will have a huge impact on Ghosh's progress as a player, but said it may also have an adverse effect on the paddler.
"The London Olympics will help him for the future, but it may also act in negative for him as he may feel that his aim is fulfilled. Once he comes back to Sweden after the Olympics I will work with him and also discuss this thing with him.
"I have been telling Ghosh, never ever be satisfied with his performance and do not stop working," he added.
The Swede emphasised that there were four aspects of the game which needed to be mastered to be among the greats.
Karlsson added that while Ghosh was mentally and tactically strong he needed to improve upon his technique and physical strength.
"There are four aspects of the game, one is the technical the other is the tactics, third is the mental and fourth is the physical. Gosh is mentally and tactically very good, technique is one thing which he will learn with experience and practice and fitness can be improved with the hard work," he said.
Karlsson hailed the younger lot of the country, in particular Harmeet Desai and Abhishek Yadav, and said the future looks great for India.
He insisted that having a competition within the country will be beneficial for the overall growth of table tennis in India.
"Competition within the country is very important," Karlsson said adding that it was the lack of competitive atmosphere in the country which hampered the growth of Achanta Sharath Kamal.
The 43-year-old, however, hailed Sharath as one of the best in the business.
"Sharath is extremely good, the way he has guided himself is exceptional. He has shown the youngsters of his country that they have the ability to compete at the highest level," he said.