The Indian men's table tennis team is poised to face a daunting task as they take on the formidable Chinese squad, who have clinched gold medals in all four previous editions, in the inaugural round of the Paris Olympics.
Concurrently, the women's team is slated to compete against Romania in the round of 16. In the event of their victory, they may potentially encounter Germany, the silver medalists from the Rio 2016 Games, in the subsequent round.
It is worth noting that this marks the first instance in which India has secured qualification for the team events in table tennis at the Olympic Games. Conversely, China has consistently emerged victorious in the men's event, securing the gold medal in every edition since the introduction of team events at the Olympics in 2008.
In the women's singles event, renowned paddler Manika Batra, who holds the 18th seed, is set to commence her campaign against Anna Hursey, a young prodigy hailing from Great Britain.
Manika, who is participating in her third Olympic Games after making her inaugural appearance in Rio 2016, advanced to the third round in the women's singles event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Hursey, in contrast, is poised to make her Olympic debut in this upcoming edition of the Games.
Sreeja Akula has been seeded 16th in the women's singles event. She will face Christina Kallberg from Sweden in the round-of-64 match.
On the men's side, experienced campaigner Sharath Kamal is gearing up for his record-breaking fifth Olympic appearance. In the opening round, he will be pitted against Slovenia's 27-year-old Deni Kozul.
Harmeet Desai, on the other hand, will commence his journey in the preliminary round. His first opponent will be Jordan's Zaid Abo Yaman, with their match scheduled for July 27.
The preliminary rounds for both men's and women's singles will consist of three matches each. The victors of these preliminary encounters will progress to the round of 64.
Should Harmeet emerge triumphant from the preliminary round, he will find himself up against world no. 5 Felix Lebrun of France.
(With PTI inputs)
