CHENNAI: With the Asian Championships set to be played from April 9 to 16 in Wuxi, China, the men's and women's national table tennis squads are in Shanghai (they reached on Tuesday), getting acclimatised to the conditions. Given that countries like China, Korea and Japan are heavyweights, it isn't surprising that India hasn't won an Asian Championships medal since 1976 when Manjit Singh Dua and Vilas Menon clinched bronze in men's doubles.
That barren run is likely to continue. But the men's team feels bettering their results from the 2015 edition in Pattaya, where they finished eighth, is plausible. Unfortunately, the competition in singles and doubles is likely to be too strong. Even so, World No 53 A Sharath Kamal, who reached the semifinals of the ITTF India Open in February, says the team has been putting in the hard yards under national coach Massimo Costantini.
“We've been busy working overtime — on strategy and fitness — ever since the India Open ended. But in Shanghai, we're focussing on playing practice matches. There's also the little case of getting used to the tables and balls,” Sharath told Express. “We've a long journey ahead of us because if we reach the quarterfinals, a minimum of seven-eight ties will have to be played. Also, the other teams' line-ups haven't been revealed anywhere, not even online, so one doesn't know where one stands.”
Soumyajit Ghosh, ranked 84, believes that it's also important to be realistic about one's goals. He adds this event could be treated as a warm-up for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. “The team is feeling confident and, realistically, we can reach the quarters, where we would face China, Korea or Japan. At this point, they're still a lot better than us. But the main focus is the CWG in April next year. This will give us an idea where we all stand,” Ghosh opined.
Teams: Men: A Sharath Kamal, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, G Sathiyan, Sanil Shetty. Women: Manika Batra, Mouma Das, Madhurika Patkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Pooja Sahasrabudhe.
rohan@newindianexpress.com