How can Sathiyan-Manika qualify for Paris 2024?

India's mixed doubles table tennis pairing of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra have one last shot at qualifying for Paris 2024 Olympics. The World Mixed Doubles Olympic Qualification event beginning on April 11 in Havirov, Czech Republic, will see the Indian duo in action.

Six mixed doubles pairs have qualified for the Olympics by virtue of their nation finishing at the top of their respective continental events. The top-five pairs in world rankings, not including those already qualified, have also booked their tickets for Paris. Lastly, France have one spot reserved for them as hosts.

So, four spots remain vacant in the final draw for the mixed doubles event in the Paris Olympics. Now, 26 teams will take part in the qualification event in Havirov to claim those four spots.

Sathiyan-Manika's route to winning a spot for Paris 2024 Olympics?

The format of the qualification event taking place in the Czech Republic is quite unique. On day 1, the 26 participating mixed doubles pairs will be divided into two separate draws and a knockout format will be used for the matches. The two groups will be known as KO1 and KO2.

The seeding for the draws will be done according to the ITTF World Rankings. The winners of the KO1 and KO2 draw will proceed to the Olympics.

On Day 2, all the pairs from day 1, except for the two who have already qualified, will be drawn into two groups again. These two groups will be known as KO3 and KO4. The seeding for these two groups will be based partially on the results of day 1 and partially on World Rankings.

Once again, the two groups would compete in a knockout format and the winners of the two groups - KO3 and KO4 - will earn qualification for Paris 2024.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra are placed in KO1 for the first day of the event and are seeded ninth in this draw. They will be up against the Greek pair of Georgios Stamatouros and Malamatenia Papadimitriou to start their tournament.

Their match will be on Table 1 and is scheduled to commence at 10.45am local time (2.15pm IST). This will be a Round of 16 match. If they win, Sathiyan-Manika will then face the winner of the contest between North Korea's Ri Jong Sik/Kim Kum Yong and Slovakia's Lubomir Pistej/Barbora Balazova.

The Indian paddlers will have to win four matches in a row to book their spot in Paris. If they fail to do so on day 1, they will have another opportunity on day 2. But the Indian pair will hope to get the job done on day 1 itself.