Hyderabad: Ace Indian paddler Soumyajit Ghosh on Sunday in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat opened-up about Team India's chances in the Tokyo Olympics. Ghosh also insisted that he would be considered for Team India if he can improve his world rankings.
When asked if he believes that the Tokyo Olympics, which has been deferred by a year due to COVID-19 pandemic, can be cancelled, Ghosh said, "For an athlete, Olympics is the biggest platform to showcase their talent. And I really hope that they will organise the Olympics Games in Tokyo next year."
Talking about his chances to be a part of India squad that will travel to Tokyo, Ghosh said, "I am a very positive person. I am the kind of person who believes in magic. So I am a bit hopeful. Even during the London Olympics, nobody believed that I will be able to make it into the Indian team."
Ghosh also said that he really enjoys playing for Team India because it gives him a sense of pride. Talking about his partners, Ghosh said he had played with many players and he had also won medals with them. But he really enjoyed playing with Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sharath Kamal Achanta.
Speaking about India's chances in the Tokyo Olympics, Ghosh said, "I think Sharath and G Sathiyan are really strong contenders to qualify for the Summer Games. Sharath recently won Oman Open and Sathiyan is playing really good since 2018 and Harmeet is also doing good. So anything can happen."
Talking about Manika Batra, Ghosh said she is doing really good. She was also able to make it to the Rio Olympics and she has been doing really good since the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Ghosh also said that the paddlers who are ranked under 100 in the world rankings have a very bright future going ahead.
