NEWLY appointed Zimbabwe Table Tennis Union coach Liping Wang has described national champion Vikram Singh as the most passionate player he has encountered in the country, after a weekend training marathon that rewired Singh’s attacking game.
The two-day session ran for six hours and twenty minutes on Saturday and six hours and thirty minutes on Sunday, focusing on advanced techniques that had previously been absent from Singh’s play.
Wang, who was appointed to the ZTTU technical role last month, said the intensity and progress over the 13 hours were unlike anything he had seen from a local player.
“In all my years coaching across continents, I have rarely seen a soul as genuinely passionate about this sport as Vikram,” Wang told The Sports Hub.
“He does not play for applause or ranking points alone. He plays because the game lives inside him, and that flame fuels a rate of growth that is astonishing.”
Saturday began with a revelation. Singh was probably unaware that attacking from outside the table was a cornerstone of professional play.
The stroke demands that a player step away from the table’s comfort and generate power and spin from a wider, more dangerous angle. It requires courage, footwork, and a profound trust in timing.
“His initial attempts were tentative,” Wang recalled.
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“The ball was catching the edge of his racket or sailing long.”
Yet as the morning wore on, Singh began to find the rhythm. By the end of Saturday’s session he had successfully landed 20 clean, powerful forehand loops from the outside position.
“To witness that leap from no recognition of the skill to 20 flawless executions in a single day, that was astonishing,” added Wang.
The true surprise came later in live games. From a position most players would consider defensive, Singh unleashed two breathtaking attacking shots using his backhand from outside the table.
“Considering he had almost no prior exposure to the concept, hitting two such winners in competitive play was moving from zero to artistry in a single day,” he said.
If Saturday planted the seed, Sunday saw it bloom. The focus shifted to the backhand loop, a stroke that demands exquisite wrist action and the ability to generate topspin from a compact swing.
“He absorbed the instruction like dry earth drinking rain,” Wang said.
“Within hours the backhand loop became a seamless part of his natural game.”
More telling was what happened in match play. Singh did not merely practice the stroke; he weaponised it. He deployed the backhand loop with confidence and precision, winning a large number of points directly from it.
“This is not mere improvement. This is the mark of a player who learns with his entire being,” said Wang.
Despite the breakthroughs, Wang was clear that the path to professional level still requires refinement. He stressed that Singh must learn to hunt every ball with his footwork rather than reaching with his upper body.
“The great champions move their feet first,” he said.
“Light, intentional steps that position the body perfectly behind each stroke. The eyes see the target; the feet deliver the body.”
Wang also emphasised the importance of allowing every action to travel to its full, graceful conclusion.
“A loop that is cut short loses spin and power,” he said.
“A complete motion is ultimately faster than an aborted one. Finish. Then recover.”
Finally, he urged Singh to constantly lower his centre of gravity.
“Height is the enemy in table tennis,” Wang said.
“By bending at the knees, he will gain explosive power, quicker lateral movement, and a better angle for reading spin.”
Wang said the weekend was a testament to what happens when raw passion meets dedicated practice. In under 13 hours Singh had transformed from a player unfamiliar with outside attacking to one who landed professional-grade shots in matches, and turned a nascent backhand loop into a decisive weapon.
“Yes, there is work to be done,” added Wang.
“The feet must dance, the strokes must complete, and the body must bend.”
He paused, then smiled.
“But with a heart as fierce as his, and a love for this sport that burns brighter than any I have seen in Zimbabwe, I have no doubt that Vikram will not only improve. He will inspire. The table awaits its poet.”
Singh is the reigning national men’s singles champion.
