Harmeet Desai is a senior-level table tennis player from India who was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2019. He once again came into the limelight after winning a gold medal along with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran in the final match of the table tennis mixed doubles event held at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.According to Harmeet Singh, his journey as a table tennis player began when he was six years old.Harmeet Desai claimed that he had to frequently change schools as most of the schools in which he studied did not give any concession in attendance to him; therefore, it became very difficult for him to cope as he had to manage his table tennis career and attendance in school at the same time. He also claimed that because of his hectic schedule, he had to miss out on classes and could only appear for the exams in school. In an interview, he claimed, I have studied in quite a number of schools because I changed a lot of schools; about nine schools actually. So it was pretty hard for me to achieve my goal like this. As I was playing tournaments I had to travel a lot. So back then, my school in the city did not try to understand. I had to miss out classes a lot. Though I was a good student as in good in the studies, I could only appear for the exams. Some of the schools never really supported me and that made me change schools again and again. Harmeet Desai being honoured in his school in 2001.During the initial phase of his career, he was trained by his father. Harmeet in an interview also claimed that his father had to leave his job to help him train for his table tennis tournaments. He said, My father taught me how to play table tennis. He taught me from the very basics of the game. He even left his job so that he could give me more time. Harmeet Desai playing table tennis with his father.After his father, Harmeet Desai was trained by Peter Karlsson, a Swedish Olympic medallist and under his guidance, Harmeet Desai participated in and won several state, national, and international level tournaments.In 2001, Harmeet Desai joined the Petroleum Table Tennis Academy (PTTA) in Ajmer, where he was trained by an ace table tennis player from China named Yin Wei.In 2018, a letter was written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Harmeet Desai in which he invited the table tennis player to join the Government of Indias Swachh Bharat Mission initiative. He also asked him to encourage his followers to join the initiative as well. The letter which was written by PM Modi to Harmeet Desai.In 2019, Harmeet Desai participated in the Fit India run, supporting the governments Fit India initiative. Harmeet Desai receiving the certificate of appreciation for endorsing the Fit India initiative.On 2 August 2022, Harmeet Desai won a gold medal in the mixed doubles event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG). There, he played the final match with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran against the Singaporean table tennis team, and the duo defeated them by a margin of 3-1. Harmeet Desai with Sathiyan Gnanasekaran during their match which was held on 2 August 2022.In an interview, Harmeet Desai claimed that had he not decided to pursue a career in table tennis; he would have made a career in the Indian Army as an officer. He said, I think I would have joined the Indian army as an offcier as I had been very passionate about it since my childhood. I admire the men in uniform a lot. Since childhood, I have been very patriotic. I always wanted to do something for my nation. Though what I do is very trivial to what the army men do. So if it wasnt a table tennis player I would love to opt for it..