6:9 - More Support Staff Than Players In India's Olympics Table Tennis Contingent

The Olympic-bound Indian table tennis team is currently training in the German city of Saarbrucken with the support staff outnumbering the players who will be competing in Paris. Italy's Massimo Costantini, who has returned as India's head coach for a third third time ahead of the Paris Olympics, is getting help from former player Sourav Chakraborty as the other national coach of the contingent. What is unusual is that as many as four personal coaches have been cleared by the government to travel with the squad with all three members of the women's team wanting their own through their stay in the Summer Games beginning July 26.

Two masseurs and a physio are the other members of the nine-man support staff while six members form the playing contingent (three men, three women).

Star women's player Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath will lean on their respective personal coaches during the course of their campaign in Paris.

In the three-member men's team, India's flag-bearer Sharath Kamal will have Chris Pfeiffer by his side at the Games. Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar are the other members of the men's unit.

The presence of so many coaches can lead to floating of too many ideas in the camp but Costantini, who has been with the squad for more than a month, doesn't see it as a problem.

"The personal coaches are a part of the team mechanism. They will have their ideas and I have my own ideas. I will listen to them and they will listen to me and eventually the final call lies with me. I don't see anything wrong in that," Costantini told PTI from Saarbrucken.

However, only designated team coaches will have field of play access while the personal coaches can only watch the action from the stands and will also stay