2014 Asian Games: Ten Indian paddlers make the cut

Achanta Sharat Kamal

Mumbai, Sep 12 (IANS) A 10-member table tennis contingent, five men and women each, will be representing India at the Asian Games to be held in the South Korean city of Incheon from September 19 to October 4. The team was selected on the basis of national and international rankings, keeping in mind the current form of the players.

The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had sent the names to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) which, in turn, recommended them to the sports ministry for clearance, which gave the final nod.

The paddlers will leave for Incheon September 22 and the table tennis events at the Asian Games begin September 27.

"We had projected a clear picture about why our paddlers should compete at the Asiad. Our paddlers had reached the semi-finals at Guangzhou and that was good enough reason for their representation. Both the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and ministry officials were convinced," TTFI secretary general Dhanraj Choudhary said, thanking the ministry for the clearance.

The teams:

Men: A. Sharath Kamal, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, Antony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty.

Women: Ankita Das, Madhurika Patkar, Poulomi Ghatak, Manika Batra and Neha Aggarwal.

Coaches: Peter Engel and Bhawani Mukherjee.