Paris 2024 Olympics: Indian table tennis concludes with a piece of history

Historical.

Even before India’s largest table tennis contingent takes up residence in the Olympic Village, this is the one-word summary of the Paris 2024 campaign.

These will be two historic weeks, for several reasons.

Indian men and women have qualified for the team championship at the Olympic Games for the first time since table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988.

The Indian table tennis team for Paris 2024 consists of eight players, including a reserve for the men and a reserve for the women, making it twice the size of the previous largest contingent of Indian paddlers at the Olympics.

Manika Batra will become the second Indian paddler to compete in three Olympics. A. Sharath Kamal will join a select group of Indian athletes including Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Abhinav Bindra and Karni Singh who have competed in five Olympics.

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The fact that Sharath has been asked to be India's flag bearer at the opening ceremony is the perfect icing on the cake. It is undoubtedly a historic event for Indian table tennis, which until recently was only looking for glory at the Commonwealth Games.

But as the Indian players boarded a plane to Germany for a week-long training camp en route to Paris, no one seemed in a celebratory mood. Instead, they wore a determined look, eager to prove that they belong at the Olympics. This determination reflects the aspirations of Indian athletes in the 21st century. Should fans hope for at least one Indian to finish on the podium? One can hope, but there is a caveat.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, but the Indian table tennis contingent is certainly looking to make its mark, building on the good work of Tokyo three years ago. In Tokyo, Sharath surpassed the round of 64 and challenged the legendary Ma Long of China before bowing out in the round of 32. Manika also reached the round of 32 to become the first Indian female paddler to win two matches at the Olympics. This time around, both Sharath and Manika, along with Harmeet Desai and Sreeja Akula, are aiming to reach at least the round of 16 in the singles, if not the quarterfinals. In the team championships, both groups are determined to get past the pre-quarterfinals and reach the quarterfinals.

Fine shape:In preparation for the Olympics, Sreeja Akula became the first Indian to win a WTT Contender singles title after beating China's Ding Yijie 4-1 in Lagos, Nigeria, last month. | Photo: Getty Images

Once you reach the quarter-finals, anything can happen, says Sharath. Everyone knows there will be no easy matches. The draw will have a huge impact and the Indian men will be hoping they don’t play the mighty China early on. Meanwhile, Manika and Sreeja are unlikely to face China before the round of 32, given their higher rankings.

The draw for all events will take place on July 24, just three days before the team championship begins.

This gives the players and head coach Massimo Costantini, who has been reappointed after six years, time to come up with a strategy. Costantini has had to deal with a controversy that erupted shortly after he formally took office for his third term.

A revolt by all four female paddlers led to the women’s assistant coach having to withdraw midway through the preparation camp in Bengaluru in June. However, this did not result in a compromised team environment. In that sense, history will not repeat that of Tokyo, where Manika chose to play her matches without the then national coach advising her.

The Indian contingent seems focused on making history at the upcoming Games, aiming to improve on their performance in Tokyo. Can they do it? Love-all, play!

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