Table tennis at Tokyo Olympics: Preview, Guide, Schedule, Indian players

Table tennis featured very late at the Olympics, by making its debut only at the 1988 Summer Olympics, but since then, it has been a regular feature at the Games. When it started, it had only four events — two for men and two for women, but now it has five events, with mixed doubles making its debut in Tokyo Olympics

Preview

China enjoys enormous success in this sport by winning 53 medals until now, including 28 Gold. There's also excitement surrounding the event for the host nation Japan as they had won 3 medals in this sport at the last Olympics. This time, the Chinese have a strong contingent of six paddlers who will start as favourites in their respective events.

The history of Indian paddlers in the Olympics is not something the nation can boast about because of performances in the past. Indian table tennis contingent has been a regular feature at every edition since the inception of table tennis at the Olympics. However, still, there has not been any significant performance or medal to cherish for India.

This time around, there's some excitement around the Indian contingent as they have a great chance to win a medal in the mixed doubles category, with fourth-time Olympic bound Sharath Kamal pairing up with India's number 1 women's singles player Manika Batra. Also, two more players in the fray, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sutirtha Mukherjee will play in the singles competition.

Guide

Table tennis at the Tokyo Olympics will feature five events in total; let's look at them.

1. Men's singles

2. Women's singles

3. Men's doubles

4. Women's doubles

5. Mixed doubles

Schedule

The Table tennis tournament at Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to take place from 24th July to 6th August. Let's have a look at the schedule day-wise

Day 1, Saturday, 24th July (05:30 – 09:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Preliminary Round
• Women's Singles Preliminary Round
• Mixed Doubles Round of 16

Day 1, Saturday, 24th July (10:45 – 13:45) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round 1
• Women's Singles Round 1

Day 1, Saturday, 24th July (16:00 – 19:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round 1
  
• Men's Singles Round 1

Day 2, Sunday, 25th July (06:30 – 08:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Mixed Doubles Quarterfinals

Day 2, Sunday, 25th July (10:30 – 14:15) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round 2
• Women's Singles Round 2

Day 2, Sunday, 25th July (16:30 – 18:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Mixed Doubles Semi-finals

Day 3, Monday, 26th July (06:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round 2
• Women's Singles Round 2

Day 3, Monday, 26th July (11:00 – 14:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round 3
• Women's Singles Round 3

Day 3, Monday, 26th July (16:30 – 18:40) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal Match
• Mixed Doubles Gold Medal Match
• Mixed Doubles Victory Ceremony

Day 4, Tuesday, 27th July (06:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round 3
• Women's Singles Round 3

Day 4, Tuesday, 27th July (11:00 – 14:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round 3
• Women's Singles Round 3
• Men's Singles Round of 16
• Women's Singles Round of 16

Day 4, Tuesday, 27th July (16:00 – 19:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Round of 16
• Women's Singles Round of 16

Day 5, Wednesday, 28th July (06:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Singles Quarterfinals
• Men's Singles Quarterfinals

Day 5, Wednesday, 28th July (11:30 – 14:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Singles Quarterfinals
• Men's Singles Quarterfinals

Day 5, Wednesday, 28th July (16:30 – 18:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Quarterfinals

Day 6, Thursday, 29th July (07:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Singles Semi-finals

Day 6, Thursday, 29th July (11:30 – 13:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Semi-finals

Day 6, Thursday, 29th July (16:30 – 18:40) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Singles Bronze Medal Match
• Women's Singles Gold Medal Match
• Women's Singles Victory ceremony

Day 7, Friday, 30th July (16:30 – 18:40) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Singles Bronze Medal Match
• Men's Singles Gold Medal Match
• Men's Singles Victory ceremony

Day 8, Sunday, 01st August (06:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Round of 16
• Women's Team Round of 16

Day 8, Sunday, 01st August (11:00 – 14:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Round of 16
• Women's Team Round of 16

Day 8, Sunday, 01st August (16:00 – 19:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Round of 16
• Women's Team Round of 16

Day 9, Monday, 02nd August (06:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Round of 16
• Women's Team Round of 16

Day 9, Monday, 02nd August (11:00 – 14:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Quarterfinals
• Women's Team Quarterfinals

Day 9, Monday, 02nd August (16:00 – 19:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Quarterfinals
• Women's Team Quarterfinals

Day 10, Tuesday, 03rd August (06:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Quarterfinals
• Women's Team Quarterfinals

Day 10, Tuesday, 03rd August (11:00 – 14:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Quarterfinals
• Women's Team Quarterfinals

Day 10, Tuesday, 03rd August (16:00 – 19:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Team Semi-finals

Day 11, Wednesday, 04th August (06:30 – 09:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Team Semi-finals

Day 11, Wednesday, 04th August (11:00 – 14:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Semi-finals

Day 11, Wednesday, 04th August (16:00 – 19:00) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Semi-finals

Day 12, Thursday, 05th August (07:30 – 10:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Team Bronze Medal Team Match

Day 12, Thursday, 05th August (16:00 – 19:10) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Women's Team Gold Medal Team Match
• Women's Team Victory ceremony

Day 13, Friday, 06th August (07:30 – 10:30) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Bronze Medal Team Match

Day 13, Friday, 06th August (16:00 – 19:10) IST (Indian Standard Time)

• Men's Team Gold Medal Team Match
• Men's Team Victory Ceremony

Indian Players

India will have four players who will compete across three events. Let's have a look.

Men's Singles

Sharath Kamal

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran

Women's Singles

Manika Batra

Sutirtha Mukherjee

Mixed Doubles

Sharath Kamal & Manika Batra