World No. 3 Manav-Manush Pair Leads India’s Table Tennis Medal Hunt At Asian Games

India begins its Asian Games table tennis campaign on Sunday with medal hopes resting largely on the world No. 3 men’s doubles pair of Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar, who enter the continental competition in strong form.

The Indian men’s team will open its Group F campaign against Indonesia before taking on Iran later in the day. The women’s team, also placed in Group F, will face Indonesia in its opening match before playing Singapore.

India won a surprise bronze at the previous edition through the women’s doubles pair of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee. This time, the squad has several potential medal contenders, with Manush and Manav emerging as the biggest hopes.

The pair has risen to No. 3 in the world rankings, while Manush will also compete in mixed doubles alongside Diya Chitale. Their recent form has raised expectations that India could make deep runs in multiple events.

The squad also features promising 17-year-old Syndrela Das, who has earned her place in the senior team after an impressive domestic run. Das is currently ranked 99th in the ITTF women’s singles rankings.

Experienced campaigners G Sathiyan, Sreeja Akula, Y D Ghorpade, Sutirtha, Payas Jain and Harmeet Desai complete the 10-member squad. Sathiyan, the most experienced player in the group, has an Asian Games bronze from the 2018 men’s team event and multiple Commonwealth Games medals.

India arrived in Nagoya on September 16 to acclimatise and familiarise itself with the conditions, including the tables and balls being used at the Games.

Manav said preparations had gone well, while Manush acknowledged the expectations surrounding the pair but stressed the need to focus match by match and maintain the level they have shown over the past year.

India will hope that combination of experience, youth and world-class doubles form translates into medals when competition begins.