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Mother of two comes back to table tennis after 15-year-break

Xinhua, April 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya's Sejal Thakkar, who put her table tennis career on hold to start a family fifteen years ago and now has two children, has returned to play at the world's top level after such a long halt.

"I have to," Thakkar said about whether she is sacrificing her own sporting career for her family.

"I sacrifice a lot, not just a little. I stopped playing and it took me a good 15 years to get back and within those 15 years it was just a total stop."

Thakkar started playing table tennis when she was 11 years old and eventually made it onto Kenya's national team. She went on to represent her country at several world championships and Commonwealth Games before getting married and taking a 15-year break.

She now has a 14-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, both of whom play tennis and have potential to compete at an international level. Thakkar takes them to practices on the weekdays, which leaves a total of four hours on the weekends for her to practice table tennis.

"It's really difficult to balance sport and being a mother, but maybe over the weekends it is my time so I tell them, 'You do your stuff and at least over the weekend I get to knock off a little bit,'" Thakkar said.

She returned to professional table tennis two years ago, but this journey was not an easy one.

In addition to putting more physical strain on her body, Thakkar, who turns 40 on May 5, had to get back to the routine of travelling to international tournaments.

Her children have never travelled to competitions with her, but they comment on her performance whenever she brings back recordings of her matches.

"They do give me advice. 'Mommy, you have to be more vigorous. You have to attack,'" Thakkar said. "It's nice."

Her goals in the sport she loves have become more humble than 15 years ago since she no longer expects top results due to her age and stamina. But for her part, Thakkar said she continues to teach her children the value of participation.

"They are already very, very proud of me. Just the fact that I'm still representing the country and getting a chance to be here is good enough for them. Participation for them is everything," Thakkar said. "I'm happy that they are looking at me as a role model and I think because of that they are more into sports." Endi