Indian table tennis players are ready to make a strong showing at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics, with Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra leading the charge in the women’s singles event.
Akula Takes Top Seed for India
Sreeja Akula has secured the highest seeding among the Indian paddlers, coming in at 16th for the women’s singles competition. This impressive feat comes after her recent achievement of a career-high world ranking of 24th, surpassing Manika Batra as India’s number one in women’s singles. Akula’s recent success includes a historic win at the WTT Contender singles title in Lagos and a doubles title alongside Archana Kamath.
Batra, a former Commonwealth Games champion, is seeded close behind Akula at 18th. This marks her third consecutive Olympic appearance, and she comes into Paris 2024 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Saudi Smash women’s singles event in May, becoming the first Indian to achieve this feat in a WTT Grand Smash event.
Sharath Kamal Set for Fifth Olympics
Veteran paddler Sharath Kamal will be making his fifth Olympic appearance in Paris. Seeded 24th in the men’s singles, Kamal will be aiming to improve on his best Olympic performance to date – reaching the third round at Tokyo 2020.
Harmeet Desai, the national champion, will be making his Olympic debut. While not seeded in the singles competition, Desai is ranked 49th globally.
Historic Team Debut for India
India will be making its debut in the team table tennis events at the Paris Olympics. Both the men’s and women’s teams have secured seedings, with the men’s team at 14th and the women’s team at 11th. Joining the four singles players for the team events will be Manav Thakkar for the men’s team and Archana Kamath for the women’s team.
With strong seeds and a historic team debut, Indian table tennis has a promising outlook for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The table tennis events will be held from July 27 to August 10 at the South Paris Arena.
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