Tokyo 2020
2 Indian origin table tennis players to represent USA at the Tokyo Olympics
Two Indian origin players – Kanak Jha and Nikhil Kumar, will be seen competing for the United States of America (USA) in Table Tennis at the Tokyo Olympics.
Two Indian origin players – Kanak Jha and Nikhil Kumar will be seen competing for the United States of America (USA) in table tennis at the Tokyo Olympics. While Jha is 21 years old, Kumar is just 17.
Both the youngsters are based out of California and have been putting up some very consistent performances for quite some time.
Even though both Jha and Kumar had qualified for the Tokyo Games in 2019 and 2020 respectively, the postponement of the Olympics by a year meant that most of the qualified athletes had to re-confirm their qualification by their national governing body and the United States Olympics and Paralympic committee. But, as it turns out both Jha and Kumar are still eligible to play at Tokyo and will form the core of the USA's six paddler contingent.
Jha is not new to the Olympics though. He had previously represented the USA in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in both singles and doubles. He was then the first 2000s born player to represent USA at the Olympics. He is currently ranked 30th in the world in men's singles and boasts of a personal best of 22 in world rankings.
Kumar, on the other hand, will be participating in his first ever Olympics. The 17-year-old would become the second-youngest paddler to represent USA at the Olympics – Jha was 16 when he played at the Olympics. He is currently ranked 177th in the world.
