Stupa Analytics, having conducted back-to-back WTT Star Contender events in Goa, is gearing up for the third edition to be staged in Chennai from March 25 to 30. The global sports technology company is the organising partner of World Table Tennis (WTT), the commercial arm of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), in India.
Deepak Malik, co-founder and COO, is hoping that the event in Chennai becomes even more successful and brings more footfall to the Nehru Indoor Stadium. “I hope that the TT fraternity supports the tournament as this is going to be Indian star Sharath Kamal’s farewell tournament,” he said.
In a chat with The Hindu, Deepak spoke about the two previous editions in Goa (2023 & 2024), the need for sports analytics to make inroads into the grassroots level, his desire to get more WTT events to India, and more. Excerpts:
Deepak Malik.
What was your experience of organising the WTT Star Contender in Goa and what do you expect from the Chennai event?
It’s been a great experience to host WTT Star Contender in Goa. We received good support from the Goa Government and especially from the players from all around, who were very warm in accepting Goa as a destination for table tennis.
We had a good line-up in the last two seasons but to carry the legacy of WTT Star Contender in India, we reached out to the Tamil Nadu Government and it welcomed us very positively, supported us with the infrastructure and provided us with financial support.
Personally, I am very happy and very excited about the WTT Star Contender in Chennai and I hope the Government will support and continue it for a few more years to make Chennai a huge destination for table tennis as well.
What are some of the problems you faced in Goa?
In the first edition, we had support from the fans but in the second edition we didn’t get enough support from them. My request to the table tennis community and the fans is that they should come and show their support for the sport. The reason why fans didn’t turn up in large numbers in Goa last year was the location of the stadium. The venue was quite far from the previous one, it was a little far from the city.
Here in Chennai we are organising the WTT Star Contender at the Nehru Indoor Stadium. We are expecting good footfall since it is the last event of Sharath Kamal and I am hoping that people will come to pay tribute to him.
How difficult it is to get top TT players to South Asian countries to take part in an event like the Star Contender?
For the first edition in Goa, we got a very strong line-up. Of the top 20 players in men and women, we had 17 in men and 16 in women. We had a very strong line-up but a few players like Ma Long and Chen Meng pulled out due to COVID-19. Last year, we got a good line-up but couldn’t get the Chinese players and this time in Chennai there will be no Chinese players taking part.
Why were the organisers not able to get the top Chinese paddlers for the Chennai event?
China is focused on the bigger events like the WTT Champions and Smashes to earn more ranking points and better prize money. This year we have a good line-up of the world’s top players. We have six top players from the men’s section and similarly seven top players from the women’s section of the top 20 players in the world.
Overall, it’s more about planning and prioritising the tournaments because WTT has done a marvellous job of keeping numerous elite events. Now they have a good number of champions, Smashes and now the European Smash.
In the first edition of WTT Star Contender in Goa, there were five top-ranked players men and four women from China. In the second edition, Ma Long and Cheng Meng pulled out. For an organiser, the main thing is to get a balanced line-up, and we are getting it successfully this year as well. Moreover, players now have the flexibility to choose as per their training plan and world rankings.
Stupa Analytics is into data analytics and also organising Pro Tour events such as WTT Star Contender. Will you continue to focus on both?
I see our main focus will be on the tech side, which is data analytics. We are into badminton also now. Organising events like the WTT Star Contender plays a very pivotal role in the growth of a company and also the country.
I am looking forward to organising one or two more WTT events, maybe in terms of Contender or Feeder, in India. My aim is to bring more and more international events for table tennis in India so that the Indian players get good exposure at home and also have the chance to earn more ranking points.
How is the market for sports technology in India?
It has grown in the last two years. When Dream Sports Foundation reached out to me and said that they wanted to do sports analytics for its Under 15 table tennis tournament in Chennai, I was very happy. We are providing DSF with live streaming, data analytics and all the other things that we are already serving WTT.
Organising the under-15 tournament with our help is a big thing from the awareness point of view. We have also signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education in Gwalior, which is keen to involve performance analytics and sports analytics in its curriculum.
This shows that awareness of sports analytics is growing. We have already signed an MOU with the SDAT (Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu) for the WTT Star Contender this year. The Tamil Nadu government is keen to support us for two more years, though they have not yet confirmed it.
Can you elaborate on your work in the badminton sphere?
We are just entering badminton. Next month we are doing two big Proof of Concept (POC) events with the Badminton World Federation (BWF). We are showcasing BWF our tech product, which we have already built in table tennis, at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
From April 8 to 13, we are doing the European badminton championship in Horsens, Denmark where we will be giving data-driven stats to the broadcasters.
We are also in touch with the National badminton chief coach P. Gopi Chand and the Dravid Padukone Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. We are also working on the Decision Review System (DRS) for on-the-line calls in badminton.
How much has analytics been incorporated at the grassroots level?
At the grassroots level in India specifically, we are struggling. We are quite an affordable company and are keen to work at the grassroots level. I think it’s a matter of awareness rather than money.
How much of AI does Stupa incorporate?
With the help of AI, we recorded the matches of top paddlers like Felix Lebrun and Prithika Pavade as well as their training sessions and gave them all the relevant data points. We were the official partners for France and Sweden and we did all the data analytics for them. We used AI in our technology where, with a single camera, we tracked everything in the given frame in a live match and extracted all the data points before giving them to the broadcasters/commentators.
How do you see the future of data analytics in general?
For data analytics, I see a bright future. There is competition and that’s a good thing.
Published – March 26, 2025 11:56 pm IST