look news india
New Delhi, 25 July (HS). The draw for the table tennis competition of the Paris Olympic Games was held on Wednesday. Indian table tennis player Manika Batra will face 18-year-old Anna Hursey of Great Britain in the opening round of the women's singles event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Seeded 18th for the upcoming edition, Batra made it to the third round of Tokyo 2020 in the women's singles. This will be her third consecutive appearance at the Summer Games after making her debut at Rio 2016. Anna Hersey will make her Olympic debut.
Meanwhile, Sreeja Akula, seeded 16th in the women's singles at Paris 2024, will take on Sweden's Christina Kalberg in her round of 64 match. Kalberg featured in the event at Tokyo 2020 and lost in the opening round.
Indian table tennis players will face a tough test in the men's team event as they will take on four-time gold medallists People's Republic of China in the opening round.
Since the introduction of team events at the Olympics in 2008, China has won the gold medal in the men's event in all editions. India has qualified for the team events in table tennis at the Olympics for the first time.
Since the introduction of team events at the Olympics in 2008, China has won the gold medal in the men's event in all editions. India has qualified for the team event of table tennis at the Olympics for the first time.
Meanwhile, the women's team will take on Romania in the Round of 16. They could face Germany, the Rio 2016 silver medallists, in the second round.
In men's singles, veteran Sharath Kamal will face 27-year-old Dani Kozul of Slovenia in the first round. Kozul competed at Tokyo 2020, Sharath Kamal is set to become a five-time Olympian.
Meanwhile, Harmeet Desai will begin his men's singles campaign from the preliminary round. On July 27, Desai will face Zaid Abo Yemen of Jordan.
The preliminary rounds in men's and women's singles will consist of three matches each. The winners of the preliminary rounds will qualify for the round of 64.
If Harmeet Desai wins the preliminary round, he will face world No. 5 Felix Lebrun of France in the main draw.
Table tennis competitions at Paris 2024 will take place between July 27 and August 10. All five competitions – men's singles, women's singles, mixed doubles, men's team and women's team – will be played at the South Paris Arena.