“India has been constantly growing in the international arena” - Sharath Kamal impressed with table tennis growth in India

Veteran Indian paddler Sharath Kamal, who is set to play for Chennai Lions in the Ultimate Table Tennis 2024, recently spoke highly on Indian table tennis’ growth in the international arena, courtesy of female paddlers Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula’s performances at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Notably, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula scripted history after becoming the first-ever Indian paddlers to make the cut for the Round of 16 at the Summer Games. However, the duo bowed out of the campaign from their respective pre-quarter-final contests.

“This is the first time both Indian teams, men and women qualified for the Olympic Games in the team event. The girls went further on; they went on to play in the quarterfinals in the team event, and especially Manika and Sreeja (Akula) got into the Last 16 in the individual event (at Paris 2024). So performances like this have been constantly coming up, and India has been constantly growing in the international arena and we look forward to more growth,” Sharath Kamal told during the press conference in Chennai.

“Table tennis has improved a lot in India” - Quadri Aruna

Nigerian great Quadri Aruna stated that the Indian paddlers are already title contenders in most of the tournaments in the world, thanks to the huge spending into the sport. He stressed that there is a lot of improvement seen in the sport in the country.

“With huge spending into the sport of table tennis in India, we have seen huge growth. Indian players are already title contenders in most of the tournaments in the world. So I think table tennis has improved a lot in India,” Quadri Aruna told reporters during the pre-tournament press conference in Chennai.

Aruna, who is set to represent U Mumba TT in the UTT 2024 season, expressed his delight to return to the franchise after representing the team in the last edition as well.

Romanian ace female paddler Bernadette Szocs, who is set to be a part of the debutant team Ahmedabad SG Pipers, is happy to be back in India and is eager to clinch the title with her new franchise. Earlier, she represented Falcons TTC in UTT 2018 and Dabang Delhi TTC in 2019.

“I am very excited to be again part of UTT. It was a pleasure to be invited again. I love to play here; I love all the fans who are very big supporters of table tennis. And of course, always when I come here, everything is perfect with good organisation. So I am very happy to be back here and I hope this time I can win with my new team,” Szocs went on to state.