India squads announced for World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024

The selection committee of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has picked a 10-member strong Indian squad, comprising five men and six women for the upcoming ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024. It will be held in Busan, South Korea, from February 16 to 25.

Manush Shah, Sharath Kamal, Manav Vikash, Harmeet Desai, and S Gnanasekaran are a part of the men's team while Manika Batra, Ahyika Mukherjee, Diya Parag, Archana Girish, and Sreeja Akula are in the women's team.

The 68th-ranked Harmeet Desai is the highest-ranked player in the men's squad while Manika Batra at 37th rank is the highest-ranked paddler among women's players picked for the event. Sreeja Akula, who broke into the top 50 recently, is the second-highest-ranked player in the women’s squad.

The Indian men's team will be playing their first game of the campaign against Chile on February 17, while the women's side will take on China in their first clash on February 16.

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Top eight teams to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics

In both the men’s and women’s teams events, eight groups consisting of five teams each will compete to progress to the knockout rounds. Each match is determined by best-of-five singles matches, with individual matches being best-of-five games.

Each group will engage in a single round-robin format, where every team faces off against the other four teams in their group. After the round-robin is completed, the top three teams from each group advance to the knockout phase.

A total of 24 teams will progress, getting a final shot at the silverware. The top eight teams at the end of the campaign will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The Indian women's team is placed alongside China, Hungary, Spain, and Uzbekistan in Group 1, while the men's team will be a part of Group 3 comprising the Korean Republic, Poland, Chile, and New Zealand.

With just eight spots available at the World TT Championships 2024, this campaign holds a lot of importance for India to make it to the mega event in Paris. If they fail to make it to the top eight, they will have to rely on world rankings.

France, Australia, China, Sweden, Brazil, Germany, and Egypt are the men's teams already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics while France, Australia, China, Germany, USA, Brazil, and Egypt are the qualified women's teams.

Men's Team - Manush Shah, Sharath Kamal, Manav Vikash, Harmeet Desai and S Gnanasekaran

Women's Team - Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Archana Girish, Ayhika Mukherjee, Diya Parag