New Delhi. Asian Games 2023 is going to start from 23rd September and will be held in Hangzhou, China till 8th October. This time, Indian table tennis players will try to end the gold medal drought in these games. Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has given the responsibility of this to 10 players, who will be led by Manika Batra and Achanta Sharath Kamal. Table tennis events will be played in Hangzhou from September 25 to October 2.

China’s dominance in table tennis

The challenge of table tennis in the Asian Games is very tough. Most of the world’s top players are part of these games, due to which the level of competition increases significantly. China’s dominance in these sports is clearly visible. In this year’s Asian Championship, China had won 14 out of 21 medals. India had managed to get only one medal.

India won only 2 medals in Asian Games

India has so far won only two bronze medals in the Asian Games. India had won both these medals in the 2018 Asian Games. India had created history by winning a medal in this game for the first time in the games held in Jakarta, Indonesia. India had won the bronze medal in the men’s team event. This team included Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai, G Sathiyan, Sharat Kamal and Manav Thakkar. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra won the bronze medal in mixed doubles.

How is the Indian team this time?

Harmeet Desai is currently in great form in singles. He has recently achieved his highest ranking. However, the form of the team’s star players G Sathiyan and Sharat is a cause for concern. Both the players are currently outside the top 100 in the rankings.

This time Manika Batra will field with G Sathiyan in place of Sharath Kamal in mixed doubles. He has not had much success in the WTT Tour this year. Manika Batra was injured during the Asian Championships but she is expected to be fully fit by the Asian Games. This time India is hopeful of medals in the men’s team and mixed doubles events.

Indian team for Asian Games

– Men’s Singles: Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan
– Women’s Singles: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula,
– Men’s Doubles: Sharath Kamal/Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manav Thakkar/Manush Shah
– Women’s Doubles: Sutirtha Mukherjee/Ayahika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula/Diya Chitale.
– Mixed Doubles: Manika Batra/Sathiyan and Sreeja Akula/Harmeet Desai
– Men’s Reserve: SFR Snehit, Sanil Shetty
– Women’s Reserve: Archana Kamath, Reeth Rishiya

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