Tokyo Olympics 2020: Manika Batra, Sharath Kamal among 4 table tennis athletes to qualify

The upcoming edition of the Olympic Games would be held in Tokyo this year after being postponed last year due to the COVID-`9 pandemic. India would be represented by athletes across sports, while table tennis would also see some top players in action.

In what comes as another piece of good news for Indian sports fans, the country has ensured a first of few qualifiers for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in the sport of table tennis. On Friday, four players sealed their spot in the global event.

Top woman talent Manika Batra sealed her place in women's singles by finishing as the second-placed player with the highest rank in the Asian Olympic Qualification tournament. She lost to Sutirtha Mukherjee 2-3 in the one-off match, as the latter too sealed her place.

As for the men, Sharath Kamal qualified by being the second-placed player with the highest rank in the same tournament, while it would be his fourth appearance at the prestigious global event. Meanwhile, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran topped the group, as he too became a deserving qualifier.

"A lot of things have happened since March 2020. I became the champion in Oman and was in good touch. I was preparing to play the qualification match in Thailand in just two weeks and suddenly, everything came to a standstill. I have achieved the best rankings of my career and it's a huge sigh of relief, especially the way this year has been. Though this will be my fourth Olympics, it will be my best Olympic Games," Kamal was quoted as saying by IANS after the qualification.

Meanwhile, Kamal is also looking to seal his place in the mixed doubles, as he has qualified for the semis along with his partner Manika, where they face Singapore's Koen Pang Yew En and Ye Lin. They beat Qatar's Mohammed Abdul Wahhab and Maha Faramarzi 11-6, 11-6, 11-2, 11-3 during the quarter.