Paris 2024: Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra To Lead India In Olympic Team Debut

Paris 2024: Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra To Lead India In Olympic Team Debut

Veteran Sharath Kamal and world no. 24 Manika Batra will lead the Indian men’s and women’s squads respectively at the Paris Games, where the country will make its Olympic debut in team events. The senior selection committee of the Table Tennis Federation of India on Thursday picked a six-member squad (three in each section) as per the Olympics norms, besides naming the individuals who would compete in the singles events.

Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar will form the three-member men’s team, while Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath will be squad members in the women’s category.

In the men’s singles, Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai will compete, while Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula will represent India in the women’s singles. The decision was taken based on the latest world rankings.

This will be the fifth and final Olympic appearance for 41-year-old Sharath Kamal, who made his Games debut back in 2004. The selection of the squads and individuals was based on the pre-established TTFI criteria, which led to the automatic selection of three players due to their consistent performances and world rankings.

However, there was a debate over the third player for the women’s squad. After Manika and Sreeja secured their spots with their higher world rankings (both in the top 50), Archana Kamath (ranked 103) made it to the team as the third player. The Bengaluru paddler edged out Ayhika Mukherjee (ranked 133) based on her ranking and other criteria.

For the men’s team, Sharath Kamal, the top-ranked Indian at No. 40, automatically qualified, while Harmeet Desai (No. 63) and Manav Thakkar (No. 62) were closely ranked. Both made it to the team, but National champion Harmeet got the selectors’ nod based on his superior international win-loss record and national performances.

Massimo Costantini’s presence as a special invitee at the selection meeting added weight to the process, with his expert inputs proving valuable. Costantini, who has coached the Indian team previously, will take charge for a third time starting next week.

Alternate players Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Ayhika Mukherjee will travel with the team to Paris but will not stay in the official Games Village. They will be available in case of an injury.