The Indian men’s and women’s table tennis players have made the nation proud as both teams will qualify for the Olympics. It’s the first time achievement in Bharat’s table tennis since the event was included at the Beijing 2008 Games.
Despite losing their pre-quarterfinal matches at the ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championships in Busan on February 21, both teams have made the cut for Paris, though the official list of rankings will come out on March 4, stated Table Tennis Federation of India general secretary Kamlesh Mehta feeling “proud of them”.
Sharath Kamal, a ten-time national champion, captained the men’s table tennis team. They suffered a 3-0 defeat against a superior Korean team. Despite a valiant effort, the women’s team lost 1-3 to Chinese Taipei, which boasted top-ranked players like Cheng I-Ching and Szu-Yu Chen.
“The entire team is very excited…. extremely happy… though we have to wait for the quota to be confirmed officially. It’s truly a fantastic team effort by everyone, the coaches, support staff, federation and SAI. I think it’s truly historic for something like this to happen, to qualify as a team in both men’s and women’s,” remarked top Indian men’s player Gnanasekaran Sathiyan.
With only 16 teams vying for qualification, the competition is intense, given that two wins at the Olympics secure a medal and it guarantees two singles entries.
While Manika Batra and Sreeja would have earned qualification based on rankings, the Table Tennis Federation of India will make the final decision, leading to an intriguing battle among Harmeet Desai (World No. 67), veteran Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan, and Manav Thakkar for the two spots. Additionally, Sathiyan is expected to secure qualification for the mixed doubles event, partnering with Manika Batra.
Olympic Games’ four-time Indian representative Sharath (41) recently expressed this will “be a dream come true” as he has seen “this team grow”. It is “just amazing” for him to share the camaraderie with each other and to see helping each other over so many years. “To play an event with genuine medal possibilities would be unbelievable,” he concluded.
Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula stunned the table tennis world by beating Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi in the opening round of the tournament, marking maiden triumph against top rankers from China. These double victories have displayed Bharat’s potentiality against the best. However, their consistency needs manifold improvements.
