Don Shula. John Wooden. Phil Jackson. Pat Summitt. Massimo Costantini would be quite at home in this hall of fame coach's lounge. As a player, he is already "il migliore di tutti i tempi"-- that is to say, the greatest of all time in Italy. Winner of a record eight national men's singles championships, he represented the green, white and red at every World Championships from 1975-1995, reaching a peak world ranking of #39 in 1981. When it came time to hang up his blade, he seamlessly segued into steering the ship. In 2018, he summarized his coaching career thus: "I was the Head Coach of Italy 2002-2005, Head Coach of the UAE 2007-2008, Head Coach of India 2009-2010, Head Coach of Indian Community Center in the USA 2010-2016, and then again the Head Coach of India until a few days ago." Wherever he went, Costantini had a gift for relating to players and gaining their trust. "I think he had some kind of a charm," says India's ace Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, who rose to historic prominence under Costantini's wing. "As soon as he took charge, almost instantly our results began to get better." Gnanasekaran has risen as high as world #24, the best ever ranking for a player from India. His second stint as skipper for the Indian team was marked by triumph and near tragedy. He steered the team to record-setting performances at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2018, reaping boatloads of medals as the team secured best-ever performances in both events. In September of that year, however, he abruptly resigned to care for his wife after she had a car accident back home in Italy. In order to stay closer to home, Mr. Costantini accepted a position as the ITTF High Performance Manager, a newly created position aiming to make use of his technical (i.e. coaching) skills to raise the level of table tennis globally. While this work has kept him busy, he still maintains close ties with the Indian team and leapt at the chance to return as an ITTF representative. As he says, "I always cheer for India." Asked what he misses most about working there, he half-jokingly says, "Aloo matar, egg curry, dal makhani," before citing the personal relationships he has maintained with the players. "I miss the team, building results with them, working on the floor and far away from the competition. Engineering them and working with their abilities, basically." When asked about the dominance of China and Japan, Costantini suggested that most other countries are going about it quite backwards. "The leading countries start working from technique and then move on to abilities," explained Costantini. "In a lot of European countries and India, the process is the complete opposite. They start with abilities first and then work on the technique. "Both are trying to reach the same result, but not everyone gets there because it comes from a certain process," continued the coveted coach. "It should be about improving the technique and then working on the players’ abilities." Asked if he would come back to coach the Indian team again, he playfully replied, "That’s a million-dollar question, isn’t it?" It is up to those who know him best to determine if he was speaking metaphorically or hinting about his asking price. The progress made by the team in the Costantini era, both individual and collective, are like the proverbial rising tide lifting all boats. Already boasting a handful of world-class players, the improved level of play will attract greater competition, further raising the level of play. If and when Costantini returns to lead India's team, they would have more than mutual familiarity going for them. Perhaps the third time could truly be a charm. Regardless, it seems certain he return to India, at least as an envoy for the ITTF. There, you will likely find him catching up with the players, who adore him (and likely over some Indian food, which he adores). At the end of the day, however, you will find Massimo Costantini among the greatest coaches of all time.
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