Paris Olympics TT draw: Manika Batra vs Anna, Sharath Kamal faces Kozul in singles

Ace Indian paddler and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Manika Batra will face Great Britain’s Anna Hursey in the women’s singles opening round.

While veteran player Achanta Sharath Kamal will clash with Slovenia’s Deni Kozul on July 27, according to the draws announced on Wednesday. Manika, seeded 18th at the Games, became the first Indian woman to reach the round of 32 in singles at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. In other opening-round matches, Harmeet Desai will play against Abo Yaman of Jordan in men’s singles, while Sreeja Akula, seeded 16th, will begin her campaign against Sweden’s Christina Kallberg.

Commonwealth Games champion Sharath Kamal leads a six-member Indian table tennis contingent, with the 41-year-old set to make his fifth Olympic appearance. Manika will compete in her third consecutive Games. Gnanasekaran Sathiyan, a member of India’s gold medal-winning men’s teams at both the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games, has been selected as a reserve player. Recently, Manika achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 24 following her impressive performance in the Saudi Smash. In the women’s team event, 11th-seeded India will start their campaign against fourth-seeded Romania. Alongside Manika and Sreeja, the team includes Archana Kamath, with Ayhika Mukherjee as the reserve player. The winning team will advance directly to the quarterfinals.

The teams:
Men: A. Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar. Alternate Player: G. Sathiyan.
Women: Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath. Alternate Player: Ayhika Mukherjee.

The Indian men’s team, comprising Sharath Kamal, Manav Thakkar, and national champion Harmeet Desai, will face a tough challenge against top-ranked China in the opening round. The Paris Games will mark the first time India competes in the team event at the Olympics. The men’s and women’s team events in table tennis were introduced at the 2008 Beijing Games.