Mouma Das

Mouma Das is one of India’s most successful women table tennis players, with more appearances for the senior national team than anyone else since 1997. She was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of sports, from West Bengal ^[1].

Early start

Das was born on 24 February 1984 and began training in 1992 ^[2]. At 13 she made her senior international debut at the Commonwealth championships, and the same year, 1997, played her first World Championships in Manchester ^[2].

Seventeen World Championships

She went on to play at the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Paris, Doha, Bremen, Zagreb, Guangzhou, Yokohama, Moscow, Rotterdam, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Halmstad and elsewhere, a record 17 appearances ^[2]. In all she has played more than 400 international matches in 75 countries ^[2].

She competed in singles at the 2004 Athens Olympics and returned to the Games twelve years later in Rio in 2016 ^[2]. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games she won gold in the women’s team event, adding to a record haul of Commonwealth medals ^[2]. She also won gold at the South Asian Games in 2004 and 2006 ^[2].

At home

At the senior nationals she has reached 51 finals across team, singles, doubles and mixed doubles, winning 32 golds ^[2]. She received the Arjuna Award in 2013 ^[2].