Hyderabad: The Indian contingent is ready for the Paris Games with 117 athletes ready to represent the country across 16 sports. The contingent features some athletes like PV Sindhu or Neeraj Chopra who have already won medals in the Olympics. Such players will look forward to continuing their legacy with more medals while others will be looking forward to adding an illustrious achievement to their career by winning an Olympic medal in their respective sports.
India will participate in the games with six paddlers and two travelling reserves. Also, for the first time in the history of the Olympics, they will be participating in the team event of sport.
Sharath Kamal
India’s veteran paddler Achantha Sharath Kamal will be the flagbearer for the country in the Paris Games. He has participated in four editions and it will be his fifth time representing the country in the Olympics in the French capital. World No. 40 has a win percentage of 54 this year which is a good sign.
His best finish this year came in Singapore Smash when he made it to the Quarterfinals of the tournament. However, he wasn’t able to make it to the top four of any of the tournaments where top players compete against each other and a medal is unlikely for him but the paddler would like to punch above his weight to play his probably last Olympics with a medal.
Harmeet Desai
Ranked 86 around the world, Harmeet is another paddler who will be representing India in the men’s singles. However, he hasn’t been good this year with several Round of 16 finishes but his best performance came in WTT Feeder Varazadin when he made it to the Quarterfinal. Because the world’s top table tennis players are going to participate in Paris and Harmeet’s performance in top-tier tournaments has been average, a round-of-16 finish would be satisfactory for him.
Manika Batra
A quarterfinal finish in the Saudi Smash was the best finish for Manika but the World No. 28 has been pretty ordinary in the other tournaments. Manika will feature in her third Olympics. She debuted in Rio in 2016 but exited in the preliminary round. However, she produced a solid run in the 2016 edition making it to the round of 32 and becoming the first women’s table tennis player from the country to do so.
There are no high hopes but a round of 32 or a pre-quarterfinal finish might be on the cards in the upcoming edition for Manika.
Sreeja Akula
Sreeja’s rise off the blocks has been just remarkable. She not only surpassed her compatriot Manika in the rankings but has produced some sensational performances this year. The world no. 25 has a win percentage of 66 this year and also won WTT Feeder Bairut II, WTT Feeder Corpus Christi, and WTT Contender Lagos. The paddler has produced some impressive performances this year and her form has been sensational.
Shreeja will be entering the tournament as an underdog but unleashing her best might take her closer to the bronze medal or at least a Quarterfinal finish considering her form this year.
The Indian men’s and women’s table tennis teams scripted history as they secured India of an Olympic spot in the team events for the first time. In the team table tennis championships played this year, the men’s team was beaten by the Korean outfit by 3-0. The women’s team was beaten by Chinese Taipei in the round of 16. With Asian giants like China and Korea participating in the Olympics earning a medal will be quite difficult for the team.
- India’s performance in the past
India started participating in Table Tennis in 1988 when the sport made its debut. But, they have been struggling to make inroads at the big stage. Kamlesh Mehta was good in 1988 and 1992 but his performance wasn’t good enough to take him through the group stage. In 1988, he won four matches and lost three fixtures while four years later he won two matches and lost one. It was a disappointing run after that for India but in the previous edition in Tokyo Manika and Sharath made it to the Round of 32. This time also India’s chances of winning a medal look slim.
Table Tennis is derived from Lawn Tennis. Upper-class English families used to play it as after-dinner entertainment with whatever equipment they could find for the pastime. Books were placed on the table to work as a net while the lid of the cigar boxes were used as rackets. A rounded-off cork from the champagne bottle was used as a ball. The equipment has evolved and competitions were held in London and Berlin in 1926. The same year the maiden World Championships were held in London. The sport which is immensely popular in Asia is played by around 40 million people around the globe.
The 1988 Seoul Games was the first instance when the sport was introduced in the Olympics with both singles and doubles competitions for men and women. The doubles competition was replaced in 2008 with the team event. 12 years later, mixed doubles were included in the Olympics programmed to make the number of events five.
The sport is dominated by Chinese players with the country winning 60 table tennis medals in the sport.
Single Matches are played in best-of-seven formats with the first player to get to 11 points winning each set. Team events are comprised of four singles and one doubles match, each played in a best-of-five format. Each team have three players in their squad.
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