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With the excitement building up for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Indian table tennis players - men and women - are all set to train hard in Asia and Europe and get themselves game-ready ahead of the Olympics.
This will be the first time that India will feature in the team events at the Olympics since the men’s and women’s team events were introduced to the Olympic program at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
"The preparation will involve both training and competition and the players could have a camp in China and Korea before shifting their base to Europe closer to the Olympics," a TTFI official told PTI.
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Importantly, both the men’s and women’s teams have secured quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics based on their respective rankings, the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) confirmed on Monday.
Team India secured Olympic spots based on rankings
The Indian men are currently ranked 15th in the world team rankings, while the Indian women are ranked 13th. Including India, a total of 16 table tennis teams will lock horns in each of the men’s and women’s team events in the Summer Olympics.
Alongside India's women’s team, Thailand (11), Poland (12), and Sweden (15) clinched their spots in Paris 2024 through the rankings. On the other hand, Croatia (12) and Slovenia (11) were the teams that secured their spots in the men's event.
Notably, Indian teams failed to achieve their Olympic spots after failing to make it to the quarter-finals of the World Team TT Championships Finals in February 2024. Nevertheless, they obtained their quota through the rankings.
Reportedly, Team India players are likely to go with Massimo Costantini as head coach for the Olympics. This will be his third stint with the Indian team and TTFI is hoping to have the longest tenure with the Italian this time around.
"The SAI could approve Max's appointment as early as next week. The Olympics are not far away and the sooner he joins the team the better. He is liked by all the players and that should work in his favour," the official added.
