Arijit Singh songs and improved forehand – Ankur Bhattacharjee starts from where he left off at UTT 2025

Ahmedabad: Four back-to-back forehand returns. Each with more power than the previous shot. It isn't something one would usually associate Ankur Bhattacharjee with.

Bhattacharjee, the breakthrough star of the Ultimate Table Tennis last season with four wins in five matches, is predominantly a backhand player. He admittedly is more comfortable with his strong backhand, which could put some of the best in the world to shame.

On Monday, he started off his 2025 UTT campaign for Kolkata Thunderblades with a dominant victory, taking down Chennai Lions' Kirill Gerassimenko 11-4, 11-10, 11-7 in the opening match of their tie.

Bhattacharjee's backhand were as potent as ever, but it was his forehand which proved to be the icing on the cake. A forehand top spin to kill a 23-shot rally at 8-7 in the second game, stamped his authority on the contest as the much fancied Gerassimenko struggled to find answers.

This is an area of his game Bhattacharjee has extensively worked with since the end of the last season.

"I have improved my forehand a lot since last year. Everyone thinks my forehand is weak," Bhattacharjee had told The Bridge, sitting in his hotel room, on the eve of Kolkata Thunderblades' campaign opener.

"But I feel that I have improved my forehand a lot over the last few months and there is a lot of difference compared to last UTT," he added.

The 19-year-old Bhattacharjee toiled hard for nearly two weeks at a camp in Germany around three months back. There was a lot of work put in to improve his speed on the table as well as to power-up his forehand.

"My forehand isn't exactly very bad but I use the backhand so much that I rarely use the former. But now I've realised that I need to play a lot of forehand as well," he said.

"I used to put a lot less power in my forehand shots. Now I feel both are at the same level," Bhattacharjee added.

The confidence and conviction in his words translated from the hotel room to the EKA Arena as he put four consecutive forehand returns on the table, before Gerassimenko put a shot out of bounds to concede the final game and match 0-3 in straight games.

Bhattacharjee, on his part, celebrated pointing to his wrist, as if telling the world, "this is my time to shine."

Aggression and Arijit Singh

What sets Bhattacharjee apart from the current crop of young Indian players apart from his prodigious talent is the raw aggression he brings to the table.

Unapologetically brash, the teenager never shies away from expressing his emotions no matter however the match is poised. The fact that the cricket fanatic paddler looks up to Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya helps.

Even against Gerassimenko, Bhattacharjee served one celebration after the other. Be it pointing towards the back of his paddle, hitting his head, or pointing towards his wrist at the end of the match. Each of this celebration is always accompanied by a loud roar.

"It is natural [the aggression]. I don't want to do it but it just happens. Even I don't have the answer to why it happens," said Bhattacharjee with a chuckle.

"But I like it and enjoy it. I feel it helps my game as well. I have tried not doing it a few times and it is hard for me," he added.

Bhattacharjee maintains that neither his coaches nor his father – a former national champion and his first coach – has ever asked him to control those emotions.

"They are always supportive and also like that I am so passionate on the table. When I am in that aggressive mindset, even my shots come out like that," he explained.

In complete contrast to his on-your-face personality in a match, Bhattacharjee falls back to Arijit Singh's soulful music on his free time.

"I listen to a lot of music, sad songs to be specific. It helps me focus," he let out with a wry smile. "Arijit Singh is my favourite."

Bhattacharjee brims with confidence and self belief, not only in the table tennis arena but outside it as well.

He ends the conversation with a declaration, "I am in good form and I will take Kolkata Thunderblades to a title win on debut."

With the win over world No 54 Gerassimenko, Bhattacharjee has already started to deliver on his promise.