PERSONAL INFORMATION
Profession: Table Tennis Player
Famous for: Winning the Arjuna Award in 2019
Date of Birth: 19 July 1993 (Monday)
Age (as of 2022): 29 Years
Birthplace: Surat, Gujarat, India
Zodiac sign: Cancer
Nationality: Indian
Hometown: Olpad, Gujarat, India
Marriage Date: 12 October 2021
Age: 29 Years
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EDUCATION
School: HMB Sardar High School Note According to Harmeet, he studied at nine different schools throughout his schooling.
College/University: Rajasthan University
Educational Qualification: B.Com [1] Gold Coast 2018
Education: B.Com
PHYSICAL STATISTICS
Height (approx.): in centimeters – 167 cm in meters – 1.67 m in feet & inches – 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.): in kilograms – 63 kg in pounds – 138 lbs
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Hair Colour: Black
FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS
Marital Status: Married
Affairs/Girlfriends: Kritika Sinha (table tennis player)
Wife/Spouse: Kritika Sinha (table tennis player)
Parents: Father – Rajul P Desai (table tennis player) Mother – Archana Desai (teacher)
Siblings: Brother – Hraday Desai (elder, table tennis player)
Sportsperson: Rafael Nadal
Wife: Kritika Sinha
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Awards: • Khel Pratibha Award by the Government of India (2018) • Arjuna Award by the Government of India (2019)
MONEY FACTOR
Career Turning Point: Winning a gold medal in the team championships at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia
OTHER INFORMATION
Ranking: International Ranking – 71 (as of August 2021) National Ranking – 4 (as of 2021)
Medals: International Medals Gold • Gold medal at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit India Junior & Cadet Open (U-15 Team Championships) in Goa • Gold medal at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Canada Open (U-15 Team Championships) in Montreal • Gold medal at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Canada Open (U-15 Men’s Doubles) in Montreal • Gold medal at the 2009 South Asian Federation Games (U-15 Team Championships) in Jaipur • Gold medal at the 2010 South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships (U-18 Team Championships) in Dehradun, India • Gold medal at the 2010 South Asian Federation Games Championship (Junior Team Championships) in India • Gold medal at the 2010 South Asian Federation Games Championship (Junior Men’s Doubles) in India • Gold medal at the 2011 South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships (Team Championships) in India • Gold medal at the 2012 Fajr Cup (Men’s Singles) in Iran • Gold medal at the 2012 ITTF World Tour Brazil Open (Men’s Singles) • Gold medal at the 2013 Lusofonia Games (Team Championships) in India • Gold medal at the 2013 Lusofonia Games (Men’s Singles) in India • Gold medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Team Championships) in India • Gold medal at the 2015 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Doubles) in India • Gold medal at the 2015 Asian Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Team Championships) in Thailand • Gold medal at the 2016 World Team Championships (Men’s Team Championships) in Malaysia • Gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Team Championships) in Gold Coast, Australia • Gold medal at the 2019 South Asian Games (Men’s Team Championships) in Nepal • Gold medal at the 2019 South Asian Games (Mixed Doubles) in Nepal • Gold medal at the 2019 South Asian Games (Men’s Doubles) in Nepal • Gold medal at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Indonesia Open (Men’s Singles) • Gold medal at the 2019 ITTF Asian Championships (Men’s Team Championships) in Indonesia • Gold medal at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships (Men’s Team Championships) in India • Gold medal at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships (Men’s Singles) in India • Gold medal at the 2021 WTT Contender Tunis (Men’s Doubles) • Gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (Men’s Doubles) in the UK Silver • Silver medal at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit India Junior & Cadet Open (U-15 Category) • Silver medal at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Taiyuan Open (U-15 Team Championships) in China • Silver medal at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Championships New Zealand Junior Open (U-15 Team Championships) • Silver medal at the 2009 Taiyuan International Junior & Cadet Open (U-18 Singles) in China • Silver medal at the 2010 Ängby International Table Tennis (U-18 Singles) in Sweden • Silver medal at the 2010 South Asian Federation Games Championship (Junior Singles) in India • Silver medal at the 2011 South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships (Junior Singles) in India • Silver medal at the 2013 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships (Team Championships) in India • Silver medal at the 2015 ITTF World Tour Australia Open (Challenge) Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Doubles) • Silver medal at the 2017 Challenge Polish Open (Men’s Doubles) • Silver medal at the 2019 South Asian Games (Men’s Singles) in Nepal • Silver medal at the 2019 Commonwealth Championships (Mixed Doubles) In India Bronze • Bronze medal at the 2006 World Junior Circuit Taiyuan Open (U-15 Category) in China • Bronze medal at the 2007 ITTF World Junior Circuit Taiyuan Open (U-15 Category) in China • Bronze medal at the 2008 Indian Junior Open ITTF Junior Circuit (U-15 Men’s Doubles) • Bronze medal at the 2008 Children Of Asia Mini Olympics (U-15 Men’s Doubles) in Russia • Bronze medal at the 2009 Taiyuan International Junior & Cadet Open (U-18 Team Championships) in China • Bronze medal at the 2009 Indian Junior & Cadet Open – ITTF Junior Circuit (U-18 Team Championships) • Bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Junior Table Tennis Championships (U-18 Team Championships) in Thailand • Bronze medal at the 2012 Fajr Cup (Team Championships) in Iran • Bronze medal at the 2013 Lusofonia Games (Mixed Doubles) in India • Bronze medal at the 2013 Brazil Open Table Tennis Championship (Men’s Singles) • Bronze medal at the 2017 Challenge Zagreb (Croatia) Open (Men’s Singles) • Bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games (Team Championships) in Indonesia • Bronze medal at the 2018 Thailand Open (Men’s Doubles) • Bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Men’s Doubles) in Gold Coast, Australia • Bronze medal at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Indonesia Open (Men’s Doubles) • Bronze medal at the 2020 ITTF Challenge Plus Oman Open (Men’s Singles) • Bronze medal at the 2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships (Team Championships) in Doha, Qatar • Bronze medal at the 2021 ITTF-ATTU Asian Championships (Men’s Doubles) in Doha, Qatar National Medals Gold • Gold medal at the 2007 National Ranking Championship (North Zone) (Junior Boys’ Singles) in New Delhi • Gold medal at the 2010 Junior & Youth National and Inter-State Championship (Junior Boys’ Singles) in Chattisgarh • Gold medal at the 2013 National Ranking Table Tennis Championship (Central Zone) (Youth Boys’ Singles) in Gujarat • Gold medal at the 2013 National Ranking Table Tennis Championship (Central Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Gujarat • Gold medal at the 2015 National Games (Men’s Doubles) in Cochin • Gold medal at the 2015 National Ranking Championship (East Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Assam • Gold medal at the 2016 Senior National Table Tennis Championships (Mixed Doubles) in Hyderabad • Gold medal at the 2016 National Ranking Championship (Central Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Madhya Pradesh • Gold medal at the 2018 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Team Championship) in Ranchi • Gold medal at the 2019 UTT National Ranking Table Tennis Championships (South Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Kerala • Gold medal at 2019 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Team Championship) in Ajmer • Gold medal at the 2020 Senior National & Inter-State Championships (Men’s Team Championship) in Hyderabad • Gold medal at the 2020 Senior National & Inter-State Championships (Men’s Singles) in Hyderabad Silver • Silver medal at the 2006 Sub Junior National & Inter-State Championships (Sub-junior Boys’ Doubles) in Kerala • Silver medal at the 2007 National Ranking Championship (Central Zone) (Junior Boys’ Singles) in Gujarat • Silver medal at the 2008 National Ranking Championship (East) (Sub-junior Boys’ Singles) in Kolkata • Silver medal at the 2008 Junior & Youth National and Inter-State Championship (Boys’ Doubles) in Gujarat • Silver medal at the 2011 National Games (Men’s Team Championship) in Ranchi • Silver medal at the 2011 Youth Nationals (Men’s Team Championship) in Ahmedabad • Silver medal at the 2012 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship (Mixed Doubles) in Ranchi • Silver medal at the 2014 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship (Men’s Singles) in Bihar • Silver medal at 2014 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championship (Men’s Doubles) in New Delhi • Silver medal at the 2015 Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championship (Men’s Singles) in Puducherry • Silver medal at the 2015 National Games (Men’s Singles) in Cochin • Silver medal at the 2015 National Games (Men’s Team Championship) in Cochin • Silver medal at 2015 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championship (Men’s Singles) in New Delhi • Silver medal at 2015 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championship (Men’s Doubles) in New Delhi • Silver medal at the 2015 National Ranking Championship (South Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Chennai • Silver medal at the 2017 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Singles) in New Delhi • Silver medal at the 2017 National Ranking Championship (East Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Siliguri • Silver medal at 2018 All India Inter-Institutional Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Singles) in Coimbatore • Silver medal at the 2019 Senior National and Inter-State Championships (Men’s Team Championship) in Odisha • Silver medal at the 2019 Ranking Championships (East Zone) (Men’s Singles) in West Bengal Bronze • Bronze medal at the 2006 Junior National & Inter-State Championship (Junior Boys’ Singles) in Odisha • Bronze medal at the 2006 Sub-Junior National & Inter-State Championships (Junior Boys’ Singles) in Kerala • Bronze medal at the 2008 Junior & Youth National and Inter-State Championship (Men’s Team Championship) in Gujarat • Bronze medal at the 2011 National Games (Men’s Singles) in Jharkhand • Bronze medal at the 2014 National Ranking Championship (North Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Uttar Pradesh • Bronze medal at the 2016 National Ranking Championship (North Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Chandigarh • Bronze medal at the 2016 National Ranking Championship (South Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Andhra Pradesh • Bronze medal at the 2017 Senior National Table Tennis Championships (Men’s Singles) in Haryana • Bronze medal at the 2017 National Ranking Championship (Central Zone) (Men’s Singles) in Madhya Pradesh
Hobbies: Reading and watching documentaries
Actor: Shah Rukh Khan
INTERESTING BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Harmeet Desai, a distinguished senior-level table tennis player from India, has made significant strides in his sports career, culminating in his recognition with the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2019. His remarkable journey took a pivotal turn during the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where he captured national attention by securing a gold medal in the mixed doubles event alongside fellow athlete Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. Their impressive victory in the final match against the Singaporean team, with a convincing score of 3-1, not only highlighted their exceptional skill but also exemplified the rising prowess of Indian table tennis on the international stage.
Desai’s passion for table tennis ignited at the tender age of six, marking the beginning of a journey that would profoundly shape his life. In the formative years of his career, he received steadfast support and training from his father, who made the significant sacrifice of leaving his job to dedicate his time to Harmeet’s training. Desai fondly recalls, “My father taught me how to play table tennis. He taught me from the very basics of the game.” This foundational support laid the groundwork for his future successes and instilled in him a deep appreciation for the sport.
As his skills developed, Harmeet sought further guidance from renowned coaches, including Swedish Olympic medallist Peter Karlsson. Under Karlsson’s mentorship, Desai flourished, participating in and triumphing at numerous state, national, and international tournaments. His commitment to excellence led him to the Petroleum Table Tennis Academy (PTTA) in Ajmer in 2001, where he trained under the esteemed Chinese player Yin Wei. This period of intensive training was crucial in honing his abilities and preparing him for the competitive landscape of table tennis.
Harmeet’s contributions extend beyond the court, as he has actively participated in various initiatives promoting health and cleanliness in India. In 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally invited him to join the Swachh Bharat Mission, urging him to inspire others to take part in this crucial initiative. Additionally, in 2019, Desai endorsed the government’s Fit India initiative by participating in the Fit India run, showcasing his commitment to promoting fitness and well-being among the youth.
Reflecting on his career aspirations, Harmeet Desai has expressed that if he had not pursued table tennis, he would have likely chosen a path as an officer in the Indian Army, a dream he held due to his passion for service. Throughout his journey, which has seen him earn multiple medals for India, he secured a position with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) through the sports quota, ensuring that his dedication to both his sport and his country continues to flourish. Harmeet Desai stands as a testament to hard work, sacrifice, and the pursuit of excellence, inspiring future generations of athletes in India and beyond.
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Note: All biographical information compiled from publicly available sources.