Table Tennis
2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships: 10-member Indian team hunts for Olympics quotas, medals
2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships: India had won 3 medals at the last edition. Can the men's and women's teams seal their Paris Olympics spots?
FILE PHOTO: Manika Batra won two matches to help India beat Hungary at the World Table Tennis Team Championships in South Korea in February.
A 10-member Indian Table Tennis team will be looking to secure medals and Paris 2024 Olympics berths at the 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships being held in Pyeong Chang, Korea between 3rd September to 10th September, 2023.
A biennial table tennis tournament regarded as continental championships by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), India have won a total of four bronze medals at this tournament since 1972, three of which were won at the last edition in 2021.
The Indian men’s team of Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, and Sanil Shetty had won a bronze while the two men's doubles pairs of Sharath Kamal/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manav Thakkar/Harmeet Desai had won 2 bronze medals.
This time, the Asian Table Tennis Championships is also a qualification tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The winners of the two team events (men and women) and the mixed doubles will secure spots at the Olympics next year.
India's men's team has been seeded third at the Pyeongchang table tennis event, while the women's team is ranked fifth.
In non-team events, Manika Batra is the only Indian seeded in the singles events, where she will play in the Round of 16 on Thursday.
Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar are seeded in the men's doubles and the pair of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee are seeded in women's doubles.
Manika and Sathiyan are a top seeded pair in the mixed doubles event.
Indian team at 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships
Men’s singles: Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah.
Women’s singles: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Diya Chitale, Ayhika Mukherjee.
Men’s doubles: Sharath Kamal/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manav Thakkar/Manush Shah
Women’s doubles: Sutirtha Mukherjee/Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula/Diya Chitale.
Mixed doubles: Manika Batra/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sreeja Akula/Harmeet Desai
Live Streaming: 2023 Asian Table Tennis Championships
Korea Table Tennis Association’s YouTube channel.
