Harmeet Desai is an Indian table tennis player. He is well-known for winning the Arjuna Award in 2019. On 2 August 2022, he made headlines after winning a gold medal in the men’s double table tennis event in the 2022 Commonwealth games.
Wiki/Biography
Harmeet Desai was born on Monday, 19 July 1993 (age 29 years; as of 2022) in Surat, Gujarat. In an interview, Harmeet claimed that he had to frequently change schools because many schools, in which he studied, did not allow him to pursue a career in table tennis and did not give him any concession in attendance. He said,
I have studied in quite a number of schools because I changed a lot of schools; about nine schools actually. So it was pretty hard for me to achieve my goal like this. As I was playing tournaments I had to travel a lot. So back then, my school in the city did not try to understand. I had to miss out classes a lot. Though I was a good student as in good in the studies, I could only appear for the exams. Some of the schools never really supported me and that made me change schools again and again.”
Harmeet Desai being felicitated in his school in 2001
After completing his schooling at HMB Sardar High School, Harmeet Desai got enrolled at Jaipur University, where he pursued a bachelor’s degree in commerce.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Weight (approx.): 63 kg
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Family
Harmeet Desai belongs to a Gujarati family.
Parents & Siblings
His father, Rajul P Desai, is a table tennis player.
Harmeet Desai with his father
His mother’s name is Archana Desai.
Harmeet Desai with his mother
His elder brother, Hraday Desai, is also a table tennis player.
Harmeet Desai with his elder brother Hraday Desai
Wife & Children
His wife, Kritika Sinha, is a table tennis player. The couple got married to each other on 12 October 2021.
Harmeet Desai during his marriage ceremony
Relationships/Affairs
Before getting married, Harmeet Desai and Kritika Sinha dated each other for a brief period.
Harmeet Desai with Kritika Sinha
Career
Harmeet Desai picked up a table tennis racket when he was just six years old. Initially, he was trained by his father, but later on, he was trained by Peter Karlsson, a Swedish table tennis player, for several national and state-level table tennis tournaments. Later, at the age of eight, Harmeet Desai was enrolled at the Petroleum Table Tennis Academy in Ajmer, where he was trained by Yin Wei, an ace Chinese table tennis player. Throughout his journey, he has been trained by several renowned table tennis players. On 2 August 2022, Harmeet Singh and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran won a gold medal in the men’s double table tennis event in the 2022 CWG at Birmingham. The duo defeated their rivals from Singapore by a margin of 3-1.
Harmeet Desai with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran during their final match against Singapore
International Medals
Gold
- Gold Medal in the u-15 team championships at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit India Junior & Cadet Open, held in Goa.
- Gold Medal in the u-15 team championships at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Canada Open, held in Montreal, Canada.
- Gold Medal in the u-15 men’s doubles at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Canada Open, held in Montreal, Canada.
- Gold Medal in the u-15 team championships at the 2009 South Asian Federation Games, held in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
- Gold Medal in the u-18 team championships at the 2010 South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships, held in Dehradun, India.
- Gold medal in the junior team championships at the 2010 South Asian Federation Games Championship, held in India.
- Gold medal in the junior men’s doubles event at the 2010 South Asian Federation Games Championship, held in India.
- Gold medal in the team championship at the 2011 South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships, held in Dehradun, India.
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2012 Fajr Cup, held in Iran.
Harmeet Desai after winning the Fajr Cup
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2012 ITTF World Tour Brazil Open.
- Gold medal in team championships at the 2013 Lusofonia Games, held in Goa, India.
- Gold medal in men’s singles event at the 2013 Lusofonia Games, held in Goa, India.
Harmeet Desai after winning a gold medal at the Lusofonia Games
- Gold medal in the men’s team championships at the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, held in Surat, India.
- Gold medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, held in Surat, India.
- Gold medal in the men’s team event at the 2015 Asian Table Tennis Championships, held in Pattaya, Thailand.
- Gold medal in the men’s team event at the 2016 World Team Championships, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Gold medal in team championships at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, held in Gold Coast, Australia.
- Gold medal in the men’s team event at the 2019 South Asian Games, held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Gold medal in the mixed doubles event at the 2019 South Asian Games, held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Gold medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2019 South Asian Games, held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Indonesia Open.
Harmeet Desai after winning the ITTF Challenge Indonesian Open
- Gold medal in the men’s team championships at the 2019 ITTF Asian Championships, held in Indonesia.
- Gold medal in the men’s team event at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships, held in Odisha, India.
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships, held in Odisha, India.
Harmeet Desai after winning the Commonwealth Championship’s table tennis event
- Gold medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2021 WTT Contender Tunis.
- Gold medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, held in Birmingham, UK.
The Indian table tennis team after winning a gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Silver
- Silver medal in the u-15 category at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit India Junior & Cadet Open, held in Goa.
- Silver medal in the u-15 team championships at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Taiyuan Open, held in China.
- Silver medal in the u-15 team championships at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Championships New Zealand Junior Open, held in New Zealand.
- Silver medal in the u-18 singles category at the 2009 Taiyuan International Junior & Cadet Open, held in China.
- Silver medal in the u-18 singles category at the 2010 Ängby International Table Tennis, held in Sweden.
- Silver medal in the junior singles event at the 2010 South Asian Federation Games Championship, held in India.
- Silver medal in the junior singles event at the 2011 South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships, held in Dehradun, India.
- Silver medal in the team championships at the 2013 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, held in New Delhi.
- Silver medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2015 ITTF World Tour Australia Open (Challenge) Table Tennis Championships.
- Silver medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2017 Challenge Polish Open.
Harmeet Desai after winning a silver medal at the Polish Open
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2019 South Asian Games, held in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Silver medal in the mixed doubles event at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships, held in Odisha, India.
Bronze
- Bronze Medal in the u-15 category at the 2006 World Junior Circuit Taiyuan Open, held in China.
- Bronze Medal in the u-15 category at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Taiyuan Open, held in China.
- Bronze Medal in the u-15 men’s doubles at the 2008 Indian Junior Open ITTF Junior Circuit.
- Bronze Medal in the u-15 men’s doubles at the 2008 Children Of Asia Mini Olympics, held in Yakutsk, Russia.
- Bronze Medal in the u-18 team championships at the 2009 Taiyuan International Junior & Cadet Open, held in China.
- Bronze Medal in the u-18 team championships at the 2009 Indian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit, held in Indore, Madhya Pradesh India.
- Bronze Medal in the u-18 team championships at the 2010 16th Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships, held in Bangkok, Thailand.
- Bronze medal in the team championships at the 2012 Fajr Cup, held in Iran.
- Bronze medal in the mixed doubles event at the 2013 Lusofonia Games, held in Goa, India.
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2013 Brazil Open Table Tennis Championship.
Harmeet Desai with his bronze medal at the ITTF Brazil Open Table Tennis Championship
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2017 Challenge Zagreb (Croatia) Open.
- Bronze medal in the team championships at the 2018 Asian Games, held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Harmeet Desai holding his bronze medal during the 18th Asian Games
- Bronze medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2018 Thailand Open.
- Bronze medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, held in Gold Coast, Australia.
Harmeet Desai at CWG 2018 with his medals
- Bronze medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Indonesia Open.
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open.
- Bronze medal in the team championships at the 2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships, held in Doha, Qatar.
- Bronze medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships, held in Doha, Qatar.
Harmeet Desai holding his bronze medals at the ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships
National Medals
Gold
- Gold medal in the junior boys’ singles event at the 2007 National Ranking Championship (North Zone), held in New Delhi.
- Gold medal in the junior boys’ singles event at the 2010 Junior & Youth National and Inter-State Championship, held in Chattisgarh.
- Gold medal in the youth boys’ singles event at the 2013 National Ranking Table Tennis Championship (Central Zone), held in Gujarat.
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2013 National Ranking Table Tennis Championship (Central Zone), held in Gujarat.
- Gold medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2015 National Games, held in Cochin.
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2015 National Ranking Championship (East Zone), held in Assam.
- Gold medal in the mixed doubles event at the 2016 Senior National Table Tennis Championships, held in Hyderabad.
Harmeet Desai with a gold medal and a trophy after winning the 81st National Table Tennis Championship
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2016 National Ranking Championship (Central Zone), held in Madhya Pradesh.
- Gold medal in the men’s team championship at the 2018 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships, held in Ranchi.
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2019 UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships (South Zone), held in Kerala.
Harmeet Desai after winning the title at the National Ranking Table Tennis Championship
- Gold medal in the men’s team championship at the 2019 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships, held in Ajmer.
- Gold medal in the men’s team championship at the 2020 Senior National & Inter-State Championships, held in Hyderabad.
- Gold medal in the men’s singles event at the 2020 Senior National & Inter-State Championships, held in Hyderabad.
Silver
- Silver medal in the sub-junior boys’ doubles event at the 2006 Sub Junior National & Inter-State Championships, held in Kerala.
- Silver medal in the junior boys’ singles event at the 2007 National Ranking Championship (Central Zone), held in Gujarat.
- Silver medal in the sub-junior boys’ singles event at the 2008 National Ranking Championship (East), held in Kolkata.
- Silver medal in the boys’ doubles event at the 2008 Junior & Youth National and Inter-State Championship, held in Surat, Gujarat.
- Silver medal in the men’s team championships at the 2011 National Games, held in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
- Silver medal in the men’s team championships at the 2011 Youth Nationals, held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Harmeet Desai receiving a silver medal at the Youth Nationals
- Silver medal in the mixed doubles event at the 2012 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship, held in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2014 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship, held in Bihar.
- Silver medal in the men’s doubles event at 2014 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championship, held in New Delhi.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2015 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship, held in Puducherry.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2015 National Games, held in Cochin.
- Silver medal in the men’s team championships at the 2015 National Games, held in Cochin.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at 2015 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championship, held in New Delhi.
- Silver medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2015 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championship, held in New Delhi.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2015 National Ranking Championship (South Zone), held in Chennai.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2017 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships, held in New Delhi.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2017 National Ranking Championship (East Zone), held in Siliguri.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at 2018 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships, held in Coimbatore.
- Silver medal in the men’s team championships at the 2019 Senior National and Inter-State Championships, held in Cuttack, Odisha.
- Silver medal in the men’s singles event at the 2019 Ranking Championships (East Zone), held in West Bengal.
Bronze
- Bronze medal in the junior boys’ singles event at the 2006 Junior National & Inter-State Championship, held in Cuttack, Odisha.
- Bronze medal in the junior boys’ singles event at the 2006 Sub-Junior National & Inter-State Championships, held in Kerala.
- Bronze medal in the men’s team championships at the 2008 Junior & Youth National and Inter-State Championship, held in Surat, Gujarat.
- Bronze medal in the men’s doubles event at the 2011 National Games, held in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2014 National Ranking Championship (North Zone), held in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2016 National Ranking Championship (North Zone), held in Chandigarh.
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2016 National Ranking Championship (South Zone), held in Andhra Pradesh.
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2017 Senior National Table Tennis Championships, held in Haryana.
- Bronze medal in the men’s singles event at the 2017 National Ranking Championship (Central Zone), held in Madhya Pradesh.
Harmeet Desai displaying a collection of all the medals won by him in different competitions
Awards
- In 2014, Harmeet Desai was awarded for standing second in the Super Series Qatar Open.
Harmeet Desai receiving an award at the Super Series Qatar Open
- In 2018, after winning a bronze medal in the Asian Games, Harmeet Desai was given the Khel Pratibha Award.
Harmeet Desai receiving a cheque after winning the Khel Pratibha Award for bagging a silver medal at the Asian Games
- In 2019, Harmeet Desai was bestowed the Arjuna Award by the Government of India for his outstanding performance in table tennis. The award was presented to him by the former President of India, Ram Nath Kovind.
President Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Arjuna Award to Harmeet Desai
Favourites
- Sportsperson: Rafael Nadal
Facts/Trivia
- While giving an interview, Harmeet Desai said that his father left his job so that he could teach him the basics of table tennis. He told the media,
My father taught me how to play table tennis. He taught me from the very basics of the game. He even left his job so that he could give me more time.”
Harmeet Desai playing with his father as a child
- In September 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote a letter to Harmeet Desai in which he asked the athlete to participate in the Swachh Bharat Mission. He also asked Harmeet to encourage more people to join the government’s initiative.
The letter written by PM Modi to Harmeet Desai
- In 2019, endorsing the Indian government’s Fit India Campaign, Harmeet Singh participated in the Fit India marathon.
Harmeet Desai receiving the certificate of appreciation for participating in the Fit India marathon
- In an interview, Harmeet Desai claimed that had he not opted to pursue a career in table tennis, he would have joined the Indian Army as an officer. He said,
I think I would have joined the Indian army as an offcier as I had been very passionate about it since my childhood. I admire the men in uniform a lot. Since childhood, I have been very patriotic. I always wanted to do something for my nation. Though what I do is very trivial to what the army men do. So if it wasn’t a table tennis player I would love to opt for it.”
- As of August 2021, Harmeet Desai’s world table tennis ranking is 71. His ranking in India is 4.
- After winning several medals in table tennis, Harmeet Desai joined the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) through sports quota.