Indian table tennis in 2024:For a change of pace, women have a higher chance than men to qualify for the Olympics in Paris.
A significant milestone was reached on September 30, 2023, both in the history of Indian sports and table tennis worldwide. On that day, in a significant continental sporting event, two girls from interior West Bengal made table tennis history by defeating the Chinese team on their home court.
The World No. 2 combination, Chen Meng and Wang Yidi, were defeated by Sutirtha and Ayhika Mukherjee in the women’s doubles quarterfinal of the Hangzhou Asian Games. With the victory, Indian table tennis received its first-ever all-women medal at the Asian Games.
The triumph gave rise to the notion that even the tough Chinese team could be overcome on the biggest platform. It was emphasized for Indian table tennis that the men’s team and mixed doubles bronze medals from Jakarta in 2018 were not singular achievements. It demonstrated that Indian paddlers were prepared to compete at a level above and beyond what the Commonwealth had to offer.
Despite being recent, this accomplishment has entered the annals of history together with the uncertain events of 2023. For the time being at least, the coming year is still unknown.
Indian table tennis still has a battle in the Olympics even after placing third three times in the previous two Asian Games. To qualify for the Olympics, one must take advantage of as many spots as possible.
For a change of pace, women have a higher probability of qualifying for the Olympics than do males. Manika Batra is the only confirmed Indian player confirmed for the Paris Olympics. She succeeded A. Sharath Kamal as India’s torchbearer in the world of table tennis.
Manika, who started the year ranked 35, made history in 2021 by becoming the first Indian player to win two matches at the Tokyo Olympics. She hopes to make it to the round of 16 in Paris, at the very least, with Aman Balgu as her new personal coach. Manika does admit that there will be obstacles in her way, though.
Manika, who lost the singles quarterfinal 2-4 in Hangzhou despite putting up a strong fight against Wang Yidi, is trying to get into the top 25 worldwide rankings. In November 2023, she reached a career high of No. 31, but in order to reach her goal, she must now remain consistent throughout the year.
Given that there will only be 16 pairs in the doubles event, the Mukherjees—who earlier this year upset the World No. 1 Korean duo of Jeon Jihee and Shin Yubin to win a WTT Contender event in Tunisia—will be aware that their road to Paris is the most difficult one.
Should they fail to get a spot via the Olympic qualifying event in March or April, the pair will need to depend on the World Rankings in the early part of May to qualify. As they demonstrated in Hangzhou and Tunis, they can undoubtedly surprise favorites if they advance.
For the men, the World Championships in Busan in February will be the main factor determining their route to Paris.
With a ranking of No. 16 at the beginning of the year, the men’s only chance of qualifying should they miss the round of sixteen is to depend on the World Rankings in May.
Indian table tennis in 2024: Parisian successes
On the other hand, the individual player rankings serve as the basis for the team rankings. Currently ranked in the 60s, Harmeet Desai has surpassed Sharath and G. Sathiyan to hold the top spot among paddlers in India. Due to a lengthy vacation at the beginning of the year and a decline in form later on, the Tamil Nadu pair fell outside of the top 100. Although they were able to return to the 90s, they still need to raise their ranks in order to be eligible for the singles. Rather, three men’s quotas, including two singles slots, will be guaranteed if the team makes it.
The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) will have the responsibility of selecting full-time head coaches for the men’s and women’s teams in order to give the seasoned players the greatest possible support as they continue to refine their skills. When given the task of leading the teams in2023, Mamata Prabhu (women), Sourav Chakravarty (men), and Subhajit Saha (women) did an excellent job. However, they were limited in their ability to work on an assignment-by-assignment basis due to the lack of a formal contract and consequent lack of control.
Further streamlining of the home circuit is also necessary. Following a turbulent two years following the Tokyo scandal, during which a court-appointed Committee of Administrators presided, the 頖TTFI has effectively organized a whole domestic tournament season.
However, the season was hastily organized as a result of the Annual General Meeting being postponed, mostly because to the cold war between rival factions and the international stars’ request that the calendar be concluded before the New Year.
In order to guarantee that the greatest number of international stars compete in national ranking tournaments, the TTFI ought to consider publicizing the domestic events calendar well in advance this time.
In order to inspire paddlers, it is also past due that the TTFI upgraded the current domestic Indian table tennis in 2024 ranking system into a far more extensive one. To ensure that every player is listed in the national rankings, a points system can be developed for each round of the national ranking competitions, including the qualifiers.
To guarantee that those who obey the rules are not discouraged, the age-fudging scourge in the domestic age-group circuit, which is a plague for Indian sport, needs to be dealt with more sternly.
The number of qualifiers for Paris in 2024 will determine the success of Indian table tennis, notwithstanding the internal problems. It will be icing on the cake if any of them even come close to being in the running for a medal!
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