Nationality India Highest ranking 63 Role Sportsperson | Name Indu Puri Residence Delhi | |
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Awards Arjuna Award for Table Tennis Similar Shailaja Salokhe, Meena Parande, Monalisa Baruah Mehta | ||
Indu Puri (born 1953) is a former Indian international female Table tennis sportsperson in the 1970s and 1980s. She won the National women's singles title a record eight times. Her highest rankings have been: international 63 (1985), Asian 8, and Commonwealth (2), she was the first Indian to beat a world champion, beating Pak Yung-Sun of North Korea in the 1978 Asian Table Tennis Championships at Kuala Lumpur.
Career
Indu Puri was suffering from chronic asthma and had a failing eyesight, when she took up table tennis as a career, despite her doctor's opinion. She shifted base from humid Kolkata to the dry weather of Delhi, which eased her asthma to an extent and went on to become National Champion record eight times., and remained India's top women table tennis play from 1970s to 1985, when she won her last National title in Kolkata. She represented India, in six Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships and six World Table Tennis Championships, eventually reaching up to number two position in the Commonwealth in 1982. Thereafter she also remained a national-level sports coach.
She was the chairperson of the committee constituted by the Ministry of Sports to select Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna 2008 and Dhyanchand Award 2009 awardees., and was appointed as an "observer" at various sporting events across the nation.
She was awarded the Arjun Award for the year 1979-1980. She has served on India's Anti-Doping Appeals Panel.