Ahead of World Table Tennis Day, Monojit Mandal documents the journey of Jitendra Gareri, the architect of the sport in the city, commemorating the sport for its inclusivity and service to humankind.
He once dreamt of wearing the India jersey. Years of hard work, state medals, and national appearances brought him close—but not close enough. Infrastructure failed him. Exposure eluded him. And the dream slipped away.
But on the other side of heartbreak stood hope.
Sunday Shillong brings to its readers the incredible story of Jitendra Gareri, a junior engineer by profession and a table tennis visionary by passion, who turned personal loss into collective triumph—building Meghalaya’s first professional table tennis academy from scratch.
Do you know what heartbreak sounds like?
It’s not always a loud cry or the sound of shattering glass. Sometimes, it’s just the quiet 
bounce of a white ping-pong ball on a concrete floor, echoing in an empty hall, long after the cheers have faded. That was the reality for one man who once dreamt of playing for India. When the spotlight didn’t come his way, he lit one for others.
This is the story of how a shattered dream led to the birth of Meghalaya’s only professional table tennis academy—Laban Sports Club Table Tennis Academy.
Meet Jitendra Gareri—a man who wears many hats. By day, he’s a junior engineer at BSNL. By heart, he’s the founder and head coach of the academy that has quietly become the epicentre of Meghalaya’s table tennis revolution.
“It all started with heartbreak,” Gareri told Sunday Shillong, seated on a plastic chair beside the practice table, where the sound of paddles and laughter echoed behind him. “But sometimes, you need heartbreak to build something meaningful.”
It began when he was just 10. A boy, curious and wide-eyed, taken by his uncle to NSCA Stadium in Lachumiere. There he met Jitendra Bisht—his first coach, his first mentor. The boy’s hands were small, but his dreams were massive. Within a year, he was hooked. His game picked up, and destiny gave him its first nod.
P.K. Majumdar, a library teacher and table tennis enthusiast, spotted him one evening and changed everything. “He told my father I had something special, and the next day we were sitting in front of Father Sebastian, the principal of St. Anthony’s School,” he recalls. “Father looked at me and said, ‘From tomorrow, you will join the school and bring laurels through this game.’”
He did.
From state championships to national school games, from representing Meghalaya to becoming a 9-time state champion—he carved a name for himself. But as the years rolled by, reality caught up. Lack of infrastructure, zero exposure, and the mounting pressure of a day job slowly strangled the dream.
“I used to dream of wearing the India jersey,” Gareri says, eyes gazing into the past. “But no matter how hard I worked, I realised without the system backing me, I was running on a treadmill—sweating, but going nowhere.”
In 2015, he gave up. He packed his paddle, tucked away his medals, and locked the dream in his closet.
But fate had one last serve to play.
In 2019, his daughter was born. A day later, his wife looked at the cabinet filled with dusty trophies and asked the question that reignited his fire:
“If you won’t play, why not teach? Maybe one of your students will wear the India jersey and live your dream.”
That line, he says, hit him harder than any smash on the table. And just like that, a new chapter began.
With just one student, a dimly-lit hall, 36 balls and a broken table, the academy was born on 21st August 2019. “We waited every evening at 5:30 for someone to walk in,” he smiles. “It took weeks, but finally, a six-year-old boy walked in with his mother. That was our first win.”
The beginnings were humble—two repaired tables, poor lighting, slippery floors. But there was no shortage of heart. He took loans, printed posters, cleaned tables with steel wool, welded legs back to life, and trained every single day like it was the finals of a national championship.
Help came in the form of two men— Sammy Myrthong and Vernon E. Syiem—who believed not just in the man, but in the dream.
“What Bah Sammy had done, truth be told, was something the government should have done. Despite having no background in table tennis, his passion to promote the game to the next level is simply mind-blowing. All the infrastructure the academy has today—every table, every mat, every bulb—is a result of his contribution,” said Gareri.
They were more than just patrons. They were believers.
“I am blessed to have someone like Jiten to work together with,” said Sammy Myrthong, president of Laban Sports Club. “We have a long way to go but we will surely reach the top. I also need to acknowledge the silent support of Bah Vernon, our secretary, and the Dorbar Shnong of Laban.”
For Bah Vernon, the journey has been both emotional and visionary.
“I just want to tell you,” he said, “That after we, from Laban Sports Club dropped the football team in 2019—when we had reached the Super Division in the Shillong Sports Association Football Tournament—we started the Table Tennis Academy with a good coach, Jiten, and his team. Since that time, we have produced good, good TT players to represent the State. And we hope also this year, in the 4th Meghalaya Open TT Tournament and 2 Inter-School TT Tournaments, we will get more and better star TT players.”
His words carried more than just pride—they carried a legacy.
“Laban Sports Club has a legacy for a number of sports in Meghalaya,” he added. “But unfortunately, Laban Sports Club could not get the recognition and name it should have gotten despite the efforts made for various sports. But as the secretary, I see that table tennis can give that recognition which the club never got. And with the hard work, dedication and love of Gareri for the game, I am sure that Laban Sports Club’s name will shine one day at the national and international level.”
Despite the pandemic halting progress twice, Gareri never gave up. And when the doors reopened, he rebuilt it—again and again. Flooring mats were laid, international-level tables brought in, lighting improved. Slowly, the academy evolved from a forgotten corner of Shillong to a beacon of table tennis in the North East.
Today, Laban Sports Club Table Tennis Academy is not just a facility—it’s a statement.
From 2022 to 2025, the academy has shattered records. From hosting the biggest cash prize tournaments in the state to winning 35 medals at the 2024 state championship, the results speak for themselves. Students like Ansh Ray and Shreya Thapa have been declared the most promising players of the state. And for the first time, a player from Meghalaya, Debobrata Paul, was felicitated outside the state.
Yet, for the founder, it’s not about medals.
“It’s about dreams,” he says. “The kind I once had. The kind that still lives in the eyes of every child who walks into the academy. And who knows, maybe one of them will finally wear that India jersey.”
He pauses. Takes a breath.
“My only wish is to see our kids wear the tri-colour and bring laurels not only to the State but our country.”
In a city where cricket grabs headlines and football fills the stands, a small white ball bounces back and forth in a quiet hall at Laban—keeping dreams alive, one rally at a time.