Kanak Jha is having quite a year. He spent nine months playing professional table tennis in Europe, threw out the first pitch at a New York Mets game on his birthday and qualified for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. And get this: He's only 16.
"I'm happy that I'm the youngest, but I don't think about it so much," said Jha, who in April, when he was still 15, became the youngest male to qualify for table tennis in Olympic history. "In the end, it's just men."
If he sounds mature for his age, he comes across that way. Jha's competitive during a match, but easygoing away from the table. He recently trained at the Lily Yip Table Tennis Center in the New York area with his five Olympic teammates and signed autographs for fans.
"He has a good fighting spirit," said US Olympic coach Massimo Costantini. "Sometimes at that age, they get upset and are not mature. We're working on the mental side to make him stronger. A simple mistake can compromise the entire match. "You need a strong mental balance," Costantini said. "It's not just managing success, but failure."
Yip, who competed for the US in table tennis at the 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Games, is the US girls national junior team coach. She hosted the current Olympic team, which wrapped up three days of practice with an exhibition and fundraiser at her club in Dunellen, New Jersey.
During the exhibition match, Jha started his serve by holding the ball and paddle a few inches from his nose, then tossing the ball 4 feet into the air before making contact.
After the point, he wiped the table with his hand, a common players' habit before serving.
Although he lost the match to an older and higher-rated Chinese player, Jha drew warm applause from the mostly Asian audience.
Gordon Kaye, CEO of the USA Table Tennis, says it's rare to find a young player "of his caliber that is so aware and comfortable within his surroundings."
It's certainly not your basement pingpong, with quick best-of-7 singles matches played to 11 points. There are different styles - defensive "choppers" or offensive "loopers," who play a more aggressive game.
The Chinese men and women are the best in the world, winning Olympic gold with regularity. Since the 1988 Olympics, China has won 47 medals, followed by South Korea (18) and Germany (5).
The US has never medaled in the sport, which offers singles and team competition. Gold-medalist Jike Zhang will return to defend his title in Rio, where competition begins August 6.
