The Indian table tennis team, spearheaded by the men’s doubles duo of Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar, is set to commence its campaign at the Asian Games this Sunday in Nagoya. The team’s objective is to secure at least one medal during the competition.
The 17-year-old, currently at 99th in the ITTF women’s singles’ rankings, has been rewarded for her impressive form on the domestic circuit with a call-up to the senior side in the Asian Games. The other members of the 10-member team five male and five female include the experienced G Sathiyan, Sreeja Akula, Y D Ghorpade, Sutirtha, Payas Jain and Harmeet Desai. Sathiyan is the most experienced player in the team, and he has a bronze in the 2018 Asian Games men’s team event and several medals in the Commonwealth Games. Our event starts from 20, so hopefully we try to do our best and try to take the medal home,” Manav said.
“And we do want to have a bigger expectation, at least from ourselves, because of course we want to match the level that we have been playing since the past one year,” he said. The women’s team is also placed in Group F and starts its campaign against Indonesia before taking on Singapore in its second match of the day. Syndrela Das’ rapid rise has also added a mixed blend of youngsters and experienced players. “This is my third Asian Games, and the preparations have been really good. The whole team has been playing very well in the past one month. Yes, we are going a little early to get used to the weather over there.
The Indian men’s team faces Indonesia in its first match of Group F against Indonesia and plays against Iran in its second match on Sunday.
