Paris: Ace Indian paddler and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manika Batra will take on Great Britain’s Anna Hursey in the women’s singles opening round, while veteran men’s player Achanta Sharath Kamal will clash with Deni Kozul of Slovenia on July 27, according to the draws announced on Wednesday.
Manika, who is seeded 18th at the Games here, had become the first women’s table tennis player from India to make it to the round of 32 in singles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In other opening round matches, Harmeet Desai will take on Abo Yaman of Jordan in men’s singles, while 25-year-old Sreeja Akula, seeded 16th, will open her campaign against Swedish player Christina Kallberg.
Commonwealth Games champion Sharath Kamal is spearheading a six-member Indian table tennis contingent with the 41-year-old all set to make his fifth appearance at the Olympics. Manika, on the other hand, will play at her third successive Games.
Gnanasekaran Sathiyan, a member of India’s gold medal-winning men’s teams at both the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast and Birmingham respectively, could not make it to the main squad and has been selected as a reserve player.
Manika had recently touched a career-best ranking of world No. 24 following her superb run in the Saudi Smash. In the women’s team event, 11th-seeded India will open their campaign against fourth seeds Romania. Besides Manika and Sreeja, the third member in the team women’s team event is Archana Kamath. Ayhika Mukherjee is the reserve player in the category. The team winning will straightaway enter the quarterfinals.
The Indian men’s team comprising Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar and national champion Harmeet, will have a trial by fire as they will face top-ranked China in the opening round. The Paris Games will mark the first time that India will compete in the team event at the Olympics. The men’s and women’s team events in table tennis were introduced at 2008 Beijing Games.
