Divyanshi Bhowmick: From Father’s Support To Upstaging Chinese Paddlers

Young Indian sensation Divyanshi Bhowmick’s prolific run at the Asian U19 Table Tennis Championships came to an end in the semi-finals after losing 7-11, 9-11, 11-5, 5-11 to home favourites Thitaphat Preechayan and Kulapassr Vijitviriyagul in Bangkok, Thailand, recently. She clinched third place at the podium along with Abhinandh Pradhivadhi in the mixed doubles event.

The top-seeded Indian pair’s run to the semi-finals also saw them upstaging Chinese pair Tang Yiren and Jiang Yiyi 11-9, 11-6, and 11-7 in the quarter-finals, producing a standout performance.

Divyanshi’s rise through the ranks was crafted by her father’s vision, which helped her find consistency and discipline at a young age. Here’s a look at her inspiring journey.

Father’s Support

Divyanshi’s father, Rahul, has stood like a pillar in her growth. During the Covid-19 lockdown, her father, the regional CEO of ISS Global Forwarding, brought her a table tennis table home to improve her practice. She soon began to practise 4-5 hours along with her father and sister. But the move hardly paid dividends as she was knocked out early during her Nationals qualifying. It would prompt her father to take notes from her coach. Her coach said that it would take her 3-4 years to reach the elite level.

Rahul could not digest the words from her coach and further decided to improve her child’s training. He brought a Power Pong Omega robot home to leverage her training. Her father had noticed the exceptional ball control from the Chinese paddlers. So, he programmed the robot accordingly by adjusting its high-spin and high-loop setting. And she practised with the robot by hitting thousands of such balls.

The persistence from her father was rewarded as she won the Nationals in 2021. It was also a well-developed programme set up by her father as she trained on three different aspects of the game under three different coaches.

Rising Through The Ranks And Finding Sponsorship

Soon Divyanshi started participating in international WTT events alongside the best players. She also participated in youth age group tournaments for India in 2022. A year later she made her mark in the age-group tournament as she clinched a silver in the women's doubles event at the World Youth Championships.

However, participating in international tournaments brought its own challenges. Divyanshi had to generate funds in lakhs to pay for her six tournaments abroad. She was left wanting with no sponsors and growing travel expenses.  

Divyashi was signed up by Dani Sports Foundation later in 2024. They had been tracking her progress since her U13 days. It brought a sigh of relief for her parents, who had been sponsoring her previous tournaments abroad.

International Success

A year later Divyanshi found her feet in international tournaments as she became the first Indian in 36 years to clinch a gold medal at the 2025 Asian Cadet Championships. The second-seeded Indian defeated China’s Zhu Qihi 4-2 (13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 11-8) in a high-pressure final to clinch her crowning moment. It was a defining moment in her career which also booked her a place in the World Youth Table Tennis Championships, scheduled in Romania.

https://www.indiasportshub.com/articles/from-dream-utt-juniors-to-utt-auction-star-the-remarkable-rise-of-divyanshi-bhowmick

Subramanian Bhuvaneswari was the last Indian to win the age group title. She did it at the 1989 edition hosted by New Delhi.

Her standout moment came when she defeated China’s Liu Ziling in a thrilling seven-game semi-final to keep the medal hopes for India alive. Incidentally, she defeated three Chinese players on her way to the top podium finish.

Ahead of the tournament, Divyanshi was named the Best Women’s Player (Overall) at the Table Tennis Super League (TTSL) Maharashtra in April.

Her father credited her win against Liu to Team India’s foreign coach Massimo Costantini. He strategised how to take down Chinese paddlers and helped her tremendously during the national camps. Divyanshi consistently practised with him and took inputs from him, setting her up for the matches.

Meanwhile, much of the Mumbai-based paddler’s success in Tashkent can be attributed to her coaches. She moved from Mumbai to Bangalore to coach under Anshuman Roy and credited him for the performance. The Kandivali paddler said that her coach and fitness team made a huge difference for her.