Tokyo Olympics: Indian-American Nikhil Kumar shines in Table Tennis

Nikhil Kumar, 18-year old Indian American paddler wins his preliminary round against the Mongolian player Enkhbat Lkhagvasuren defeating him by 4-1 (11-2, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-8) in Table Tennis at the Tokyo Olympics.

He begins his Olympics journey on a high being the youngest American TT player in Tokyo. Hailing from San Jose, California, he has been playing since 2013 and rightfully earned his spot in the National Table Tennis of the United States of America. The team is filled with elite players like Lily Zhang, Liu Juon, and also his Indo-American compatriot Kanak Jha.

Nikhil believes that his age doesn't make a difference to his performance as he has always played against opponents older than him. Table tennis is a game of skill and not of age. He says that players younger than him are much stronger and holds the potential to defeat him.

He is the gold medallist from the 2019 Pan American Games and was the bronze medallist at the 2020 ITTF Portugal Open in the Men's U21 category. The Indo-American has various other accolades attached to his name.

The Tokyo Olympics Campaign begins with a dominating win for the 18-year old paddler finishing the first set in under 3 minutes. This will give a boost to Kumar as he faces Alberto Mino of Ecuador in Round 1 today itself.