Sharath Kamal will once again lead India’s challenge in the World Table Tennis Championships to be held here from May 29 to June 5.
Since the championships are all about individual performances, the Indian members will have to try hard to make an impression in the eight-day event.
Besides 53-ranked Kamal, the other male members of the squad include Soumyajit Ghosh (83), G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai (95) while the women players are Madhurika Patkar, the reigning national champion, Manika Batra (103), Mouma Das and Ayhika Mukherjee, the rookie, who will make her maiden world championships appearance.
Kamal, the top-ranked Indian in the world will have to shoulder most of the burden of the eight-member squad, comprising four men and women paddlers, besides his own fans’ expectations at home.
In the previous edition two years ago in Suzhou (China), the Indian spearhead was in a roaring form before pulling himself out in the third round because of a hip injury.
For the 34-year-old Indian, who could probably be playing his last world championships (individuals), the event in Germany presents a good opportunity to make a real good impression and he would try all tricks in his bags to achieve glory.
The reigning national champion was in good form during the Asian Championships in China recently and India almost knocked the Japanese out in the quarterfinals.
The squad, accompanied by foreign coach Massimo Costantini, had reached Dusseldorf more than a fortnight ago and is going through an intense training camp at a private facility.
The foreign expert, along with former national champion Soumyadeep Roy, who was drafted in by TTFI as the second coach, are training the paddlers for the most important event on the ITTF calendar.
The Indian team will also play doubles in both sections apart from the mixed doubles where Manika Batra and Madhurika Patkar with pair up with G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai. In men’s doubles, the first pair will be Kamal and Sathiyan while the second will be Ghosh and Desai.
As for women’s doubles, Ayhika will partner Madurika while Manika-Mouma duo will form India’s second pair.
