Sports hero with difference, deaf TT player takes crown at nationals

Suvro Sengupta was recently crowned India’s best performer at the National TT Championship for the Deaf held in Delhi. At the all India tournament hosted by the Delhi Sports Council for the Deaf from February 11 to 14, Suvro became the first TT player from Bengal to win the national crown in the men’s singles category.

Suvro’s coach, Partha Pratim Dutta, told The Indian Express: “It’s always difficult for someone like Suvro to pick up a sport professionally. I have been training him for over 10 years now and he’s a special student. We communicate with each other using hand gestures and lip-reading. It’s difficult, but we both have an understanding working together all these years. The moment Suvro decided at a young age he would pursue the sport seriously, he was focused on making it big.”

In the men’s singles final at the national championship in Delhi, Suvro defeated Gaurav Jain of Rajasthan 3-1, finished runners-up in the men’s doubles and took third position in mixed doubles. Apart from title victories in India, Suvro made it to the pre-quarters of the Melbourne Deaf Olympics in 2005.

The youngster has been through trying times and is struggling on the cash front. His coach said: “He comes from a humble background. His father died of cancer five years ago and he now needs Rs 75,000 to ensure he can take part in a prestigious senior TT tournament in Kuwait in April. But Suvro is too committed to even think twice about participating in the meet.”

Suvro, also a fine painter, doesn’t just restrict himself to training but hangs around at his coach’s club to teach young TT players the nuances of the game — in his own style. “The kids here have known him for years. They can understand what he’s trying to tell them and read his instructions without problems, they are so familiar with him,” Dutta said.