India table tennis teams make history, qualify for Paris Olympics

Despite losing their pre-quarterfinal matches at the ITTF World Table Tennis Team Championships in Busan on Wednesday, both the Indian men’s and women’s teams will qualify for the Olympics for the first time ever by taking the last world ranking spot

It’s the first time that India will qualify for the team event of an Olympics since the event was included at the Beijing 2008 Games.

While the official list of team rankings will come out on March 4, as per calculations, both teams have made the cut for Paris.

“The men’s and the women’s teams played very well and we’re proud of them. We’re waiting for the official announcement that we have qualified for the Paris Olympics, which will come on the 5th of March,” Kamlesh Mehta, Table Tennis Federation of India general secretary, said.

The men’s team, led by 10-time national champion Sharath Kamal, were blanked 3-0 by a much better team in hosts Korea. The women put up a brave fight but lost 1-3 to the higher-ranked Chinese Taipei, which had the likes of World No.10 Cheng I-Ching and World No.41 Szu-Yu Chen.

“The entire team is very excited. We were looking forward to this day for a very long time. We’re extremely happy that we’ve made the cut for the Olympics though we have to wait for the quota to be confirmed officially. It’s truly a fantastic team effort by everyone, the coaches, support staff, federation and SAI. I think it’s truly historic for something like this to happen, to qualify as a team in both men’s and women’s,” top Indian men’s player Gnanasekaran Sathiyan said.

Since only 16 teams qualify for the event, it’s fiercely contested considering that two wins at the Olympics guarantee a medal.

It’s also a much-sought-after event as with it, come two guaranteed singles entries for the Olympics.

While among the women, Manika Batra and Sreeja would’ve qualified as per rankings, the men would hugely benefit from this. While the Table Tennis Federation of India may take the final call, it’s going to be an interesting battle among World No.67 Harmeet Desai, veteran Sharath, Sathiyan and Manav Thakkar for the two spots. Sathiyan should also qualify for the mixed doubles event, partnering Manika Batra.

The 41-year-old Sharath, who has represented India at four Olympic Games, told The Indian Express recently that it would be his dream to play in a team event at the Olympics.

“I’ve seen this team grow. To be playing in a team event at the Olympics would be a dream come true. The camaraderie we share with each other and the way we have helped each other over so many years is just amazing. To play an event with genuine medal possibilities would be unbelievable,” he had said.

In the opening round of the tournament, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula stunned the table tennis world by beating Chinese World No.1 Sun Yingsha and World No.2 Wang Yidi respectively.

An Indian had never beaten a top Chinese before and those double victories have suddenly shown that India are capable of springing a surprise against the best, though their consistency needs to improve leaps and bounds.

Indian TT on upswing

Indian table tennis has been on an upswing ever since Sharath medalled at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Its growth only multiplied in the past decade, especially after Manika grabbed the spotlight after winning four medals at the 2018 Gold Coast CWG. She followed it up with an Asian Games mixed doubles bronze – a first for India – partnering Sharath. Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherjee then did the unthinkable at the Hangzhou Asiad, winning a women’s doubles bronze, beating a top Chinese pair in their backyard.

Sathiyan, who had earlier said he let his singles rankings slide to focus on mixed doubles, will have to concentrate on improving his singles ranking again.

“To be honest, it will be very difficult to win a medal in singles. I’ve participated once, maybe I could go two rounds further but still, you are two to three rounds away from a medal chance. So I should concentrate on something where I stand a chance at winning,” he had said.

The entire Indian contingent in Busan would celebrate making it to the Olympics, but they also know that till the qualification window ends, team spirit would have to take a backseat.

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