Shivaji has gone down to Australia on a four-month intensive training stint, but has assured before he left that he would back in Kolkata again during summer to participate in tournaments here. As per his plans, he will return here in April to take part in office tournaments.

A prominent member of the gold winning squad at the last edition of the Commonwealth Games, Shivaji was inspired by his elder brother Arjun, a former table tennis international, to master the art of table tennis at the Children’s Little Theatre (CLT), which is a hotbed of young talent in the sport.

Speaking to The Indian Express on the eve of the journey last Thursday, Shivaji pointed out the need for training abroad. “I have been to Australia before as well, trying to upgrade my game. I believe, without training abroad, Indian table tennis players won’t be able to take on top-class opponents at major international events,” explained Shivaji, a scale one officer with Dena Bank.

Along with plenty of aspirants and high dreams of bettering himself at the game, Shivaji has also taken along with him a CD of the Butterfly Training Programmes, furnished to him by TT training consultant Sunil Dutta.

Of course, there’s another reason too for Shivaji to visit Australia. His wife Avanti, a national ranking TT player from Bengal, currently lives in Sydney for higher education.