Indians Table Tennis players look forward to Dusseldorf World Table Tennis Championships

The hope of Indian paddlers reaching nearer to the medal podium at the World Table Tennis Championships, to be held at Dusseldorf from May 29 to June 5, will hinge on World No. 53, A Sharath Kamal. Since the championships are all about individual performances, the Indian members must try hard to make an impression in the eight-day event.

The other male members of the squad include Soumyajit Ghosh No. 83), G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai (No. 95) while the women players are Madhurika Patkar, the reigning national champion, Manika Batra (No. 103), Mouma Das and Ayhika Mukherjee, the rookie, who will make her maiden world championships appearance.

Undoubtedly, 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 at Suzhao (China), the Indian spearhead was in a roaring form before pulling himself out in the third round because of a hip injury.

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.