Indu Puri: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox table tennis player | name =Indu Puri | image = | image_size = <!-- Only for images narrower than 220 pixels --> | caption = | fullname = | nicknames = | nationality =India | residence =Delhi | playingstyle= | equipment = | hrank=63 | club = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1953|09|14}}| birth_place =Kolkata | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | death_place = | height = | weight = | medaltemplates = }}

'''Indu Puri''' (born 14 September 1953)<ref name=sw>{{cite news |title=Indu Puri |last=Tom Alter |publisher=[[Sportsweek]], 5-11 June 1985 |pages = 27–34}}</ref> is a former [[India]]n international female [[Table tennis]] sportsperson in the 1970s and 1980s. She won the National women's singles title a record eight times.<ref name=ss/> Her highest rankings have been: international 63 (1985), Asian 8, and Commonwealth (2),<ref name=iitf/> she was the first Indian woman to beat a world champion, beating [[Pak Yung-Sun]] of North Korea in the 1978 [[Asian Table Tennis Championships]] at [[Kuala Lumpur]].<ref name="(India)">{{cite book|author=Encyclopædia Britannica (India)|title=Students' Britannica India|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPP7O3nb3g0C&pg=PA99|accessdate=12 March 2012|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-0-85229-760-5|pages=98–99}}</ref>

Puri took up table tennis at the age of around 11. Her father Amrit Lal Puri was the manager of a jute mill and used to take her to a club in the mill. She took part in the first Nationals in 1969. She won the first of her eight titles in the Ahmedabad Nationals of 1972, defeating Rupa Mukherjee in the final. Her second title was in 1975. She completed her B.A. from [[Loreto College, Kolkata]] and joined the [[Indian Railways|Railways]].She continued there till moving to [[Union Bank of India|Union Bank]] in 1981.<ref name=sw/>  

Puri suffered from chronic asthma and had a failing eyesight. She took up table tennis as a career despite her doctor's opinion. She shifted her base from humid [[Kolkata]] to the dry weather of Delhi in 1978 which eased her asthma. <ref>{{cite news |title=How Indu Puri defied asthma to excel in TT |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010413/sports.htm#11 |work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]] |date=13 April 2001 }}</ref> She won her third national title in 1979 and won five more in a row.<ref name=sw/> Her last National title was at Kolkata in 1985 defeating [[Niyati Roy]] in the final.<ref name=ss>{{cite web |title=Indu Puri is back |url=http://www.tssonnet.com/tss3148/stories/20081129503603000.htm |date=Vol. 31, 48, 29 November 2008  |publisher=[[Sportstar]] }}</ref>  

She first represented India in the [[1973 World Table Tennis Championships]] at Sarajevo. She went on to appear in seven [[World Table Tennis Championships]]; India finished in the top 16 at [[1979 World Table Tennis Championships|Pyong Yang in 1979]]. <ref name=sw/> She also represented India in six [[Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships]], eventually reaching up to number two position in the Commonwealth in 1982. Thereafter she also remained a national-level sports coach.<ref name=iitf>{{cite web |title=A Great Deal To Learn |url=http://www.ittf.com/_front_page/ittf_full_story.asp?Year=&General_Catigory=&ID=5118&Category=&Competition_ID=&Player_ID=107756& |date= 15 December 2003 |publisher=[[International Table Tennis Federation]] (ITTF) News, front page }}</ref> Puri was ranked 8th in the [[1978 Asian Table Tennis Championships|Jakarta Asian Championship]] in 1982. In the [[1978 Asian Table Tennis Championships|Asian Championship at Kuala Lampur in 1978]], she defeated the world champion [[Pak Yung-Sun]] of North Korea.<ref name=sw/>