Asian Games 2026: Paddlers Syndrela Das, Payas Jain added in TOPS Development group

Asian Games-bound young table tennis players Syndrela Das and Payas Jain have been included in the Sports Ministry's flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme's (TOPS) Development group, while senior star Manika Batra's request for funding to participate in international events next month has also been approved.

The 17-year-old Syndrela, who hails from Kolkata, bagged a silver in girls' doubles and a bronze in the girls' singles events at the Asian Youth Championships in Thailand earlier this year.

Syndrela also bagged the triple National Ranking age-group titles (U15, U17 and U19 singles) in 2023, before transitioning to the senior nationals last year.

Manika, who was omitted from the Asian Games squad for failing to meet the selection criteria of requisite domestic game time, will receive funding from the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) for taking part in the WTT Contender tournaments in Bulgaria and Kazakhstan, scheduled for September.

Earlier this year, TOPS had decided to create a focused group of young talent between the age of 14 and 17 years, specifically for table tennis.

Syndrela had been a part of that group, which aims to build India's bench strength for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and the 2036 Olympics.

Syndrela becomes a part of the scheme alongside 21-year-old Payas and Ankur Bhattacharjee, who play men's doubles.

India's 10-member Asian Games squad includes Syndrela, Sreeja Akula, Diya Chitale, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Sutirtha Mukherjee, G Sathiyan, Manush Shah, Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai and Payas.

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