Paris Olympics: Faltering Sharath Kamal and confusion over best combination among factors holding Indian men’s table tennis team back from qualifying

Hopes of the Indian men’s table tennis side making it to the Paris Olympics suffered a serious setback with the second consecutive loss at the ongoing team World Championships in Busan.

While their 3-0 loss to hosts Korea on Monday was understandable given the gulf in class between the two teams, it was their unexpected loss to Poland on Sunday that has made their quest to qualify for the Olympics even more challenging.

To earn a direct entry to the Games, India have to make it to the quarterfinals of this tournament, failing which they will have to depend on the performance of other teams and the permutations and combinations that go with it.

After adjusting to the weather in Busan where the current temperature can fall as low as 8 degrees Celsius at night, India beat Chile in their opening encounter. That win meant India will still make it to the knockouts of the tournament if they beat New Zealand on Tuesday, but finishing third in the group means they will face higher group-finishers in the Round of 32 and the pre-quarterfinals.

Star player G Sathiyan says the team is still in good spirits despite their losses.

“The loss to Poland was a tough one but we fought well. Poland are not an easy team. They have Jakub Dyjas, who’s one of the best in Europe. The team is still upbeat. It’s a small setback but we’ve had this experience before and fought as a team. The great part is that we always back each other no matter what and the energy is amazing,” Sathiyan told The Indian Express from Busan.

“We’re capable of beating a lot of teams. It just depends on that particular day. There are a lot of teams who have finished second in their group (that India will face in the Rd of 32) that we can beat. Poland beat us because they played well on that day and we can do the same against stronger teams,” he said.

Before the Indian men’s team can think of Olympic qualification though, there seem to be quite a few areas that need sorting out.

Out-of-form Sharath Kamal

A 10-time national champion, the 41-year-old Achanta Sharath Kamal hasn’t been in the best of form of late and while the team relies on him for his continuous input and guidance, it’s imperative that he finds his rhythm, and soon.

Sharath hasn’t beaten any higher-ranked player in WTT tournaments for over a year and was embarrassed in his opening round of qualification at the WTT Star Contender in Goa last month where he lost to then 136-ranked Korean Kang Dongsoo.

To put it plainly, he was quite disappointing in the opening rubber against Poland, where he faced Dyjas. Known for his attacking game, Sharath chose just to counter against his Polish opponent and wasn’t very successful, losing 1-3. The fact that he chose to play defensively showed that he is perhaps struggling with confidence. He did produce winners with his thunderous forehand topspin but needs to do that more consistently if India are to stand a chance.

An in-form Sharath will definitely give India a huge advantage, especially considering he plays the first rubber and takes on the opposition’s best player.

Bench strength

It’s great that India have strong options on the bench in Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah, but they need to finalise the playing three for more consistency.

Manav is the second-highest-ranked Indian player, with only World No. 67 Harmeet Desai superseding him. For the matches against Chile and Korea, it was the big 3 of Sharath, national champion Harmeet and Sathiyan who played, but for the Poland tie, the 86-ranked Manav, who’s been in stellar form, replaced Sathiyan.

The 23-year-old played his heart out against Milosz Redzimski only to lose in five games, but with his counter-punching game, he’s given India a huge selection conundrum for the remainder of the tournament.

“Manav had a better win record against the Polish youngsters since he’s played against them and that’s why as a team, we decided that he should play instead of me. He did very well and was unfortunate to lose in the decider,” Sathiyan said.

So how can they improve? “We need to convert those close games. That’s the difference at this level, and we haven’t been able to do it so far,” he added.

Women outplay Uzbekistan 3-0

The Indian women’s team continued its good run on Monday, sweeping minnows Uzbekistan 3-0.

After their stunning show in their narrow loss to China where they beat World No. 1 Sun Yingsha and World No. 2 Wang Yidi, the Indians fought out a gritty 3-2 win over Hungary on Sunday, thanks to Manika Batra’s heroics. They decided to use their bench strength against Uzbekistan and Archana Kamath and Diya Chitale didn’t disappoint.

Archana, who had her best-ever performance at a WTT event, reaching the Round of 32 at the Goa Star Contender, had a cakewalk against Rimma Gufranova, winning in straight games. Diya faced a tougher test with Uzbekistan’s Rozalina Khadjiev fighting back to draw level at 1-1. The 20-year-old held her nerve superbly to win the next two games, going on to seal the rubber.

The women will meet Spain on Tuesday in what will be an interesting clash. A win should guarantee India a second-place finish in the group.

Results:

Men: Korea bt India 3-0 (Jang Woojin bt Harmeet Desai 11-4, 11-7, 11-7; Lim Jonghoon bt G. Sathiyan 11-5, 11-7, 11-7; Lee Sang Su bt Sharath Kamal 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5); Women: India bt Uzbekistan 3-0 (Archana Kamath bt Rimma Gufranova 11-7, 11-3, 11-6; Manika Batra bt Markhabo Magdieva 11-7, 11-4, 11-1; Diya Chitale bt Rozalina Khadjiev 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-4)

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