New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) The Indian table tennis team will finally have a full-time coach after the sports ministry approved the appointment of Poland's Leszek Kucharski. The coach's position was lying vacant ever since Italian Massimo Constantini's term ended with the Guangzhou Asian Games last year.
Kucharski's appointment came after Swedish coach Anders Johansson turned down the offer from the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) in July after showing keen interest.
TTFI secretary general Dhanraj Choudhary said Kucharski is expected to arrive in India in the next two weeks and his monthly salary has been fixed at $6,000 besides free accommodation.
'We recommended Kucharki's name to Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Nov 5 and we got the approval from them Saturday,' a relieved Choudhary told IANS.
'Kucharski has already applied for the Indian visa and should be here in next 10-12 days. Our players training was being affected by the absence of a permanent coach and I am relieved that are finally going to have one now.'
Kucharski's name was recommended to TTFI by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) along with Czech Republic's Michael Hajek and Erik Lindh of Sweden. The Polish coach has been given charge till the 2012 London Olympics.
Kucharski is a former world no.11 and has served as the coach of his national team.
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