BENGALURU: Top paddlers Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula are set to lead India's charge at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games as the Committee of Administrators (CoA), managing the affairs of table tennis in the country, announced an eight-member squad here on Tuesday following the conclusion of the week-long national camp.
The squad, a mix of experience and young talent, also includes Sanil Shetty, G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai among men and Reeth Rishya, Manika Batra and Archana Kamath among women. Manush S hah (men) and Diya Chitale (women) were named as the two reserve players. While the men's squad got the all-clear, the CoA said the women's team will only be finalized after Sports Authority of India's approval as the selectors had deviated from the existing policy to pick a squad that had the best chance of winning medals.
"The coaches and selectors feel this is the best team in the women's section as Archana Kamath is in the top-10 in the world doubles individual rankings while the duo of Archana and Manika are ranked four, top among Commonwealth countries," CoA member and chairman of se- lection committee Surinder Dev Mudgil said here.
"But one of the players falls outside the top-4 if you go by the present criteria. We want to do it in a fair manner and want SAI's concurrence on the women's squad," he said, adding that the new selection policy will be in place from October 1, 2022 or the first national tournament, whichever is earlier.
The men's doubles will see Sathiyan teaming up with Sharath and Harmeet with Sanil. The proposed women's pairs are Manika and Archana and Sreeja and Reeth.
The mixed doubles action will see three pairs - Manika & Sathiyan, Sreeja & Sharath and Archana and Harmeet - in action. The top three among men and women will feature in the individual events.
The CoA member said that all the 15 players (eight men and seven women) who attended the camp at the Padukone Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence will be fielded at the upcoming World Table Tennis Tour events in Zagreb (Croatia), Ototec (Slovakia) and Budapest (Hungary) in June-July. Ahead of the Birmingham Games, beginning on July 28, the Indian squad will also train with the Portugal national team.
In CoA's first interaction with reporters after taking charge in February, chairperson Justice (retired) Gita Mittal said the committee was making its best efforts to lift the sport by introducing equal prize money and electronic open draw of lots. National and regional academies too have been planned, she said.
The Squad:
Men: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sanil Shetty, G Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai
Reserve: Manush Shah
Women (provisional): Sreeja Akula, Reeth Rishya, Manika Batra, Archana Kamath
Reserve: Diya Chitale
