From Boardroom to Backspin
UH Table Tennis Team Thrives on Shared Passion
Being on a team has a unique way of bringing people together, even those who may have little else in common. The University of Houston Table Tennis Team is a testament to that power, uniting students across disciplines, backgrounds and even generations through a shared love of the sport.
Bauer College Executive DBA student Mahesh Joshi is President and Managing Director of Everllence, whose competitive edge extends outside the boardroom.
Joshi was captain of his own college table tennis team while he was attending Delhi College of Engineering. However, when his corporate life started to throw him fastballs, he put down the paddle to focus on his career.
He thought he would never play for a college team again and that his involvement in the sport would be limited to being a sponsor for the Major League Table Tennis (MLTT) team Texas Smash.
Joining the Executive Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) program at Bauer helped him reconnect with the sport he loved to play, he said. Being a student again in a classroom environment reminded him how it feels to be part of a team, not as an executive, but an equal player, he added.
“The DBA keeps my mind sharp, and table tennis does the same,” Joshi said. “Both demand focus, discipline, and constant learning.”
“The DBA program has been a very important learning experience,” Joshi said. “I get to learn from all my classmates and the faculty. I’m not only learning about business, but it also allowed me to get back to a passion I grew up with.”
One thing he loves about the sport is the amount of focus that goes into the game, he added. He describes table tennis as both mentally demanding and deeply. Every point requires intense concentration, anticipating the ball’s trajectory, adjusting body positioning, calibrating touch and force in a split second.
“The DBA keeps my mind sharp, and table tennis does the same,” Joshi said. “Both demand focus, discipline, and constant learning.”
Although, like any sport, table tennis isn't played alone.
“Our team has chemistry despite everyone having different majors. At the end of the day, when we come to the table, we all have one goal: to play table tennis and win.”
“When you’re playing competitive table tennis, you’re totally focused. It puts your brain and body at work.”
“The sense of community we have is awesome, and we all work together to become better. I’ve learned a lot about the game from all of them.”
“I’ve learned to enjoy table tennis. I take it pretty seriously, but with these guys I can take a step back and enjoy playing the game.”
“The best part about table tennis is playing and competing.”
The UH Table Tennis team was founded in Fall 2025 and shortly after, they competed in the National College of Table Tennis Association (NCTTA) tournament, where they secured second in their division.
Despite the age difference between Joshi and the rest of the players on the team, he said that their companionship came naturally from the first day they met.
They’re all equally competitive, and he added that one of the reasons he believes they performed so well in the NCTTA tournament was because no one was playing for themselves. They were playing as a team.
On the UH Table Tennis team is rising star athlete and Bauer pre-business student Daniel Tran. Tran also plays for the MLTT Chicago Wind. In 2024, he captured the U.S. Nationals Men’s Doubles title alongside Nandan Naresh, then followed it up with U.S. Open victories in U19 Boys’ Doubles and U17 Mixed Doubles.
“There’s so much intelligence that goes into the sport that helps me outside the sport as well,” Tran said.
The UH Table Tennis team will compete in the division tournament again in February, and with how hard they’ve been practicing, Joshi said he is hopeful they will qualify for regionals and later, the nationals.
With another divisional tournament approaching in February, the team continues to train intensely. Joshi said that he remains optimistic that their discipline, chemistry and shared commitment will carry them forward — first to regionals, and ultimately, to the national stage.
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