Sathiyan-Manika eye Paris quota place at World Olympic Qualification Tournament

India's mixed doubles pairing of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra are set to play at the World Olympic Mixed Doubles Qualification Tournament in Havirov, Czech Republic, scheduled to be held on April 11-12. 

This is the final Paris Olympics qualification tournament for Indian paddlers as the country's men's and women's teams have already secured the quota places for the Paris Olympics. And by virtue of the teams' qualifications, four Indian singles players - two each in men's and women's singles categories - will get a chance to play in the Paris Games.

26 pairings from across the world, who will be fighting for the four available Paris quota places, will compete in the World Olympic Mixed Doubles Qualification Tournament. 

Top countries like China, Japan, South Korea and Chinese Taipei have withdrawn from this tournament as they set their eyes on the six available ranking quota places in the mixed doubles discipline, increasing the chances for the Sathiyan and Manika. 

Format

The format of the event is very complicated as each of 26 pair can get two opportunities to grab the Paris Olympics quota place. The competition will be divided into the two stages, first round and the second round.

In the first round, all the 26 pairings will be divided into knockout draws based on their seedings. The two winners of each of the two knockout draws will secure direct qualification for the Paris Olympics, hence there will not be any second round for them in the event. 

The remaining 24 pairings will take part in the second round which again will be divided into two knockout draws. The seedings for the second round will be done on the basis of the pairings' performance in first round performance and then their world rankings. 

The winners of each of the two knockout draws of second round will secure the remaining Paris Olympics quota places. 

Threats

Manika and Sathiyan will have their sight on playing in their second consecutive Olympics as a pair. But this task will not be tad easy for them as the competition level at this event is going to be high although the top pairings have withdrawn from the event.

They will be entering the tournament as the eighth seeded pair for the first round competition.

Their biggest threat will be the top seed of the event, the world no.6, Spanish pair of Alvaro Robles and Mario Xiao followed by second seeded Hong Kong pairing of Wong chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem. On the other hand, North Korea returning to the world events after the Asian Games could pull off surprise against the favourites.

This could be the final opportunity for the Indian pair, who are not at their best form this year,  and has further dropped down outside top 15 in world rankings which means they are very much behind the ranking quota.

Schedule 

1:30 PM - 11th April - First round  - Morning session

7:30 PM - 11th April - First round - Evening session

1:30 PM - 12th April - Second round - Morning session

7:30 PM - 12th April - Second round - Evening session

Details

Venue - Havířov Table Tennis Sports Club

Place - Havirov, Czech Republic

Match format - Best of seven game

Live Streaming

The live streaming for both the first and second round stage matches at World Olympic Mixed Doubles Qualification Tournament in Havirov, Czech Republic, will be available on the official website of Olympics.com.