In a historic feat, India's men's and women's table tennis teams on March 4 qualified for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. The qualification was based on the rankings. Currently, the men's and women's team is ranked 15th and 13th respectively.
In addition to the team quotas, India are also guaranteed two individual single quotas in both men's and women's single categories.
Both the Indian teams had missed their chances of booking Olympic berths in the ITTF World Team Championship Finals in Busan after getting knocked out in the pre-quarterfinals. After the conclusion of the event, seven spots remained empty which were awarded to India and other nations on the basis of their rankings.
“The highest-ranked teams not yet qualified in the latest World Team Ranking booked their ticket to Paris 2024,” ITTF said.
It is a major achievement as India have not been able to compete in the team event at the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Contenders for singles category
In the women's singles category, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula are expected to fill in the two spots. However, Ayhika Mukherjee and Archana Kamath's have also delivered performances that will keep them in contention for the second spot alongside Batra.
On the other hand, in the men's category, Harmeet Desai, Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, and Manav Thakkar are major contenders for the two spots. However, Desai is likely to get the spot first.
Ecstatic Kamal reacts to historic news
“Finally!!!! India qualifies for the team event at the Olympics! Something I have wanted for a long long time! This one is truly special, despite it being my fifth appearance at the Olympics! Kudos to our Women’s Team who also secure a historical quota!” veteran Kamal expressed on X.
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