Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Manika Batra qualify for Tokyo Olympics

Indian table tennis players Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sutirtha Mukherjee have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. "Many congratulations to #SutirthaMukherjee for qualifying for #Tokyo2020 in women's singles table tennis after her win in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers. #JeetengeOlympics #GemsofSAI," the Sports Authority of India (SAI) tweeted.

Paddlers Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra have also booked their Tokyo Olympics berth."#TOPSAthlete @sathiyantt has qualified for #Tokyo2020 in men's singles table tennis after topping the South Asia Round Robin group at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers. @sharathkamal1 and @manikabatra_TT have also qualified on basis of ranking. #JeetengeOlympics #GemsofSAI," SAI said in another tweet. Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju congratulated the athletes for their achievement.

"Congratulations to @sathiyantt who has qualified for #Tokyo2020 in men's singles table tennis after topping the South Asia Round Robin group at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers," Rijiju wrote on Twitter. In another tweet, he wrote: "Great news for India! Our star Table Tennis player @manikabatra_TT has qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the TT women's singles! I'm hopeful that Manika will qualify in the mix-doubles also."

Congratulating Kamal, the Sports Minister tweeted: "I'm extremely proud of your achievements @sharathkamal1 Congratulations on qualifying for the Tokyo Olympic Games for the 4th consecutive times in men's singles. I'm confident that you and @manikabatra_TT will qualify in mixed doubles also." Tokyo Olympics is scheduled from July 23-August 8 this year. The Games were scheduled to be held last year, but got postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Whereas, the Paralympics will take place from August 24 to September 5.