Veteran Indian paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal will start his campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympics against Deni Kozul of Slovenia on July 27 while Manika Batra will face Welsh teenager Anna Hursey of Great Britain, as per the draws announced.
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 in her third Olympics.
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.
Manika outranks her Welsh opponent with a world rank of 28 while Sreeja will face a tough battle against Kallberg.
In the men’s singles, Harmeet Desai will start his campaign in the preliminary round. Desai will face Zaid Abo Yaman of Jordan on July 27. If he wins the preliminary round, he will face world number five Felix Lebrun of France in the first round.
Tough draw in the team events for the men’s team
The Indian men’s table tennis team comprising Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar will be up against defending champions China in the first round of the team event.
In the women’s team event, 11th-seeded India will open their campaign against fourth seeds Romania.
Besides Manika and Sreeja, Archana Kamath is the third member of the team women’s team event. Ayhika Mukherjee is the reserve player in the category.
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 the 2008 Beijing Games.