'My biggest bet would surely be the doubles’: Neha on India’s TT medal hopes at Asiad
Neha Aggarwal Sharma, a former Indian table tennis player, discusses India's medal hopes at the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, noting significant improvement in the sport. She highlights the strength of the men's doubles team, ranked world No. 3, but acknowledges the challenge of consistently beating top nations like China, Japan, and Korea.
Why it matters
This article provides insight into the evolving landscape of Indian table tennis, reflecting the nation's growing competitiveness in international sports and the challenges still faced in achieving elite global consistency.
India’s 10-member table tennis contingent is already in Japan, with the Aichi-Nagoya competition for the event beginning on September 20. At the forefront are world No. 3 men’s doubles pair Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah, while India also has experience in Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai, and a younger group featuring Sreeja Akula, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale and Syndrela Das.For Neha Aggarwal Sharma, the difference between this Indian team and the one she was part of at the 2014 Asian Games is hard to miss.“I remember when I played at the 2014 Asian Games, we lost in the quarterfinals. We played against China. It was a close match.”“We lost a few others. I mean, we weren't really expected to win medals and it was okay.
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