Indian men’s TT team to face China first up

India TT star Sharath Kamal with tennis ace Rafael Nadal in Paris

Indian men's table tennis team is set to face a formidable challenge as they compete against four-time gold medallists China in the opening round of the Paris Olympics.

The women's team, meanwhile, will face Romania in the round of 16. They could face , the Rio 2016 silver medallists Germany, in the second round.

Notably, India have qualified for team events in table tennis for the first time. On the other hand, China have won the gold medal in the men's event at all the editions, since the introduction of team events at the Olympics in 2008.

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In the singles women's singles event, star paddler Manika Batra, who is seeded 18, will begin her campaign against Anna Hursey, teenager from Great Britain.

Manika, who is competing in her third Olympics after making her debut in Rio 2016, made it to the third round at Tokyo 2020 in women's singles. Hursey, on the other hand, will be making her Olympic debut.

Another Indian, Sreeja Akula was seeded 16, and will take on Sweden's Christina Kallberg in her round-of-64 match.

In men's singles, Sharath Kamal, who will mark his record fifth Olympic appearance, will face 27-year-old Deni Kozul of Slovenia in the opening round.

Harmeet Desai will be a part of the preliminares. Desai will face Zaid Abo Yaman of Jordan on July 27. Harmeet will face world no. 5 Frenchman Felix Lebrun if he wins the preliminary round. Table tennis competitions will take place between July 27 to August 10.

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