India table tennis at Asian Games 2023: Team, Schedule, Medal chances

Asian Games 2023: The Indian men's and women's Table Tennis teams begin their Asian Games campaign on Friday. India's best chances of a TT medal this time lies in the men's team and mixed doubles events.

Table Tennis has been part of the Asian Games since 1958. The 1970 Bangkok Asian Games is the only time table tennis was not part of the Asiad roaster. India won only two medals in table tennis, both in 2018, where the men's and mixed doubles teams won a bronze medal each.

There is an increase in the number of events in table tennis at the Asian Games in Hangzhou from the last edition as two new events have been added to the programme that is men's doubles and women's doubles. It takes the total count of medal events to seven.

China has absolute dominance in table tennis and will be the favourite for all seven gold medals in Hangzhou. The Indian team, meanwhile, will try to better its last edition's performance.

Indian squad for the Hangzhou Asian Games

Men's team: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah

Women's team: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Ayhika Mukherjee, Diya Chitale

Schedule

Men's and Women's Team:
Group Stage: 3 Matches
RR1:- 7:30 AM IST(22 September)
RR2:-1:30 PM IST (22 September)
RR3:-7:30 AM IST (23 September)

Round of 16: 24 September (7:30 AM IST)
Round of 8: 24 September (1:30 PM IST)

Round of 4: 25 September
Women's team:-7:30 AM IST
Men's team:-1:30 pm IST

FINAL: 26 September
Women's team:-11:30 am IST
Men's team:-4:30 am IST

Mixed Doubles:
R64:7:30 AM IST(25 SEP)
R32:1:30 PM IST(27 SEP)
R16:7:30 AM IST (28 SEP)
R8:1:30 PM IST (28 SEP)
R4:1:30 PM IST(29 SEP)
F:2:30 PM IST(30 SEP)

Women's Doubles:
R64:7:30 AM IST(27 SEP)
R32:1:30 PM IST(28 SEP)
R16:1:30 PM IST (29 SEP)
R8:2:30 PM IST (30 SEP)
R4:9:30 AM IST(2 OCT)
F:4:00 PM IST(2 OCT)

Men's Doubles:
R64:7:30 AM IST(27 SEP)
R32:7:30 AM IST(28 SEP)
R16:7:30 AM IST (29 SEP)
R8:9:30 AM IST (30 SEP)
R4:9:30 AM IST(1 OCT)
F:4:00 PM IST(1 OCT)

Women's Singles:
R64:1:30 PM IST(27 SEP)
R32:7:30 AM IST(28 SEP)
R16:7:30 AM IST (29 SEP)
R8:9:30 AM IST (30 SEP)
R4:9:30 AM IST(1 OCT)
F:4:00 PM IST(1 OCT)

Men's Singles:
R64:7:30 AM IST(27 SEP)
R32:1:30 PM IST(28 SEP)
R16:1:30 PM IST (29 SEP)
R8:2:30 PM IST (30 SEP)
R4:9:30 AM IST(2 OCT)
F:4:00 PM IST(2 OCT)

Medal Chances

Men's Team | Possible Finish: Top 4

Indian men's team, the bronze medallist from the last edition, will look to improve its performance. India will be one of the favourites in the men's team event. Four of the five members of the 2018 bronze medal-winning team are part of the Asian Games in Hangzhou. The only change is that Manush Shah has replaced Anthony Amalraj. Indian men's team is also a two-time Asian Championships medallist.

The Indian team, comprising Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, will try to make it to the semifinals and may have to close it with a fourth-place finish because of the dominance of China, South Korea and Japan. But the men's team's recent bronze medal-winning performance at the Asian Championships will further boost the confidence of the team.

Women's Team | Possible Finish: Top 8

Indian women's team lost in the quarterfinal at the 2018 Asian Games and missed out on a chance of winning a medal. This time it will try to get past the quarterfinal hurdle. Manika, Ayhika and Sutirtha were the part of 2018 Asian Games team as well. Sreeja and Diya will make their debut at the Asian Games, and they will try to come up with India's best-ever finish in the women's team event.

At the recently concluded Asian Championships, the women's team finished sixth.

It will be up against top teams like China, Japan, South Korea, Chinese Taipei, North Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong in the Asian Games which could push the team down to the eighth position.

Men's and Women's Doubles | Possible Finish: Top 8

The men's and women's doubles events are making their comeback in the Asian Games after missing out on the roster of the 2018 Asiad. India has two pairs each in men's and women's doubles. Sharath-Sathiyan and the young duo of Manav and Manush will represent India in men's doubles, while Ayhika Mukherjee-Sutirtha Mukherjee and the young duo of Diya-Sreeja will be in action in women's doubles.

Ayhika-Sutirtha will be the biggest medal contender for India in doubles out of these four pairs as they are currently the highest-ranked Indian combo and also in decent form this year. They are the only pair from India to win a WTT contender title in 2023. But considering the competitiveness of the Asian Games, the duo could make a top-eight finish only.

Men's and Women's Singles | Possible Finish: Top 8

The Indian men's and women's singles players did not have a good outing in the Jakarta Asian Games in 2018, as no Indian player could get past the Round of 16 stage. This time, India has four singles players, two each in men's and women's singles. Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will represent India in the men's category, whereas Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula will represent India in the women's singles category.

Manika Batra has been in very good form this year, and she is the only Indian singles player who is in the top 40 in the world rankings. She won the bronze medal in the Asian Cup last year and became the first-ever women's singles player from India to achieve the feat. But she will face tough competition from the Chinese, Koreans and Japanese paddlers. A top-eight finish will be a commendable show from Indian paddlers in the singles events.

Mixed Doubles | Possible Finish: Top 4

The mixed doubles pair of Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal won India's second medal in the 2018 Asian Games. In Hangzhou, Manika will try to win her second mixed doubles medal with her new partner Sathiyan Gnanasekaran. Alongside Manika and Sathiyan, India has one more mixed doubles pair - Harmeet and Sreeja - in the Hangzhou Asian Games.

Sathiyan-Manika is currently ranked eighth in the world, and they are one of the strongest contenders for a medal in China. Sathiyan-Manika is also the most consistent Indian pair in recent times.

Given the strength of the Indian pairs, we could expect a top-four finish.

Indian paddlers at the 2018 Asian Games

Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sharath Kamal won the men's team bronze, while Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra paired up to bag the second bronze in mixed doubles at the 2018 Asian Games.

India at the Asian Games: Table tennis records

Bronze: Men's team - Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar (2018)

Bronze: Mixed team - Sharath Kamal, Manika Batra (2018)