NEW DELHI: The trio of G Sathiyan, Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra will spearhead India's challenge at the Asian Table Tennis Championships starting from Sunday in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The Asian Championships is qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The 10-member squad, comprising five men and as many women paddlers, reached the Indonesian city on Saturday following a 10-day preparatory camp at Chengdu, China.
They will be joined by foreign expert Brett W Clarke.
The event will provide experienced paddler Sharath and the top-ranked Indian, Sathiyan with a chance to assess themselves in the company of top contenders like Japan, Korea, Taipei and Singapore.
In the women's section, all eyes will be on Manika.
She has paired up with Madhurika Patkar in doubles events, and the duo will hope the combination works well.
MP Singh and Arun Kumar Banerjee the Secretary-General and Treasurer of Table Tennis Federation of India respectively will also be present at the Indonesian city.
The two will attend the ATTU Congress, a biennial gathering of Asian countries.
Team: Men: Manav Thakkar, Anthony Amalraj, G. Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai and A. Sharath Kamal.
Women: Sutirtha Mukherjee, Madhurika Patkar, Ayhika Mukherjee, Manika Batra and Archana Kamath.