Son of an auto-rickshaw driver emerges as a rising star in Mumbai table tennis circuit

Nothing has come easy for Sagar Kasture. Son of an auto-rickshaw driver, he grew up in the slums of Nehru Nagar. For years, he woke up and left for practice well before the sun would rise and returned close to midnight. He lacked the resources to make a career in sport and had to struggle for something as basic as a racquet or a pair of shoes.
None of this, however, deterred the 18-year-old. Kasture fought all odds to emerge as one of the most promising young table tennis players from the city, as was seen during the recently-concluded Mumbai Premier League (MPL) where his team missed out on qualifying for the semifinals.
Kasture has been a part of the Mumbai U-19 team for almost two years. He has been in the reckoning for the title for the last two years at the Suburban Table Tennis Association’s State Championships and finished runner up in 2022. He has consently showcased his talent, which led to him being picked for the Mumbai Royals team in the MPL.
However, Kasture’s journey began much before when his elder brother Maruti spotted his potential and got him enrolled at the Jayesh Lakhani Academy in Vile Parle. Hailing from a humble background, his parents had reservations about picking sport as a career choice.
But his coaches, Jayesh Lakhani and Nilesh Pandirkar, trusted his abilities. “He brings in so much sincerity and dedication to the game that he is bound to make everyone associated with him proud,” Pandirkar said.
Every day, Kasture would put in extra hours to repay the faith shown in him his coaches. He woke up at 4 so that he could train for two hours before being dropped off to school. Later, while most students unwound for the day, he rushed to the station to catch the 2.45 local to Thane, where he practised at the Boosters Academy till after dinnertime. He then caught a late-night train back and would reach home enervated around 11.30 at night.

This routine continued for close to seven months, a phase he describes as ‘the most arduous period of [his] life which taught [him] the meaning of perseverance and patience.’
Along the way, he received support – financial, technical and mental – from multiple well-wishers. Kasture recalls his teachers making special provisions to allow him to practice for extended periods and manage his studies alongside it. His brother Maruti analysed his videos and mentored him identifying areas of improvement. And last year, his friends raised approximately Rs 80,000 to sponsor his participation in the U-19 tournaments. Ultimately, noticing his painstaking efforts and consequently improving performances, his parents have also come around to appreciate his dreams.
Kasture is now juggling between his class 12 boards and a promising table tennis career. “Time is of the essence, and I can’t afford to waste it. I strive hard to follow my coach’s philosophy of doing things the right way to reach success gradually,” he explains. During his spare time, Kasture, a humanities student, is keen on following politics or engaging in a friendly game of chess with his elder brother.

For now, his goal is to get selected for the Senior Maharashtra Table Tennis team and compete in the National Championship; a stepping stone, he says, to make it to the national team.
Ishika Gupta is an intern with The Indian Express.