No tournament is bigger than the Olympics. It's going to be a very special one as far as table tennis is concerned as we've never had four paddlers from India at any previous Games. We had Sharath Kamal and Neha Aggarwal in the men's singles and women's singles, respectively, in 2008 (Beijing) while we had Soumyajit Ghosh and Ankita Das in the same events in London 2012. So yes, it is a very happy moment for table tennis to have double that number this year.
The players are working very hard in the build up to the event. Also, the support of the government has come at the right time. They will have to put in a lot of effort since you'll have the best of the best participating in Rio. But it goes without saying that their effort and what they bring back from the Games will help them perform even better towards the second half of the year.
We may have very strong medal hopes from other racquet sports. There is Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu in badminton and then Leander Paes and Sania Mirza in tennis. As far as we are concerned, on paper, we don't look anywhere close to a podium finish. The simple season is that I go by what we have done in the past tournaments. We are improving, but we have only two men's players in the top 100 (Soumyajit Ghosh is 68, Sharath Kamal is 75). We need to get into the top-30 for me to say 'yes, India does have strong medal prospects in table tennis as well'. But the positive news is that all four of them have improved their rankings in the last year, so we do have a lot to look forward to.
Manika Batra, ranked 130, may be only 21, but she has years of experience on her side. She's got a lot of time in front of her. Manika has improved tremendously so much so that we didn't expect her to be where she is right now.
Mentally, tactically and physically, Manika is at the stage where she needs to be and it will only get better. This is just her first time at the Games and it will be a tremendous learning experience even if she doesn't fare well. She easily has another 10 years of table tennis in her and we know that she will be a much better player come the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Mouma Das, ranked 153, is a senior player. Age might not be on her side, but you can expect her to put her best foot forward. Her mental strength is her biggest highlight as she keeps responding to taunts of being past her prime by winning many tournaments nationally. Her ability to change according to how the game is progressing is also one of her characteristics. She's back after the 2004 Games, so you never know what to expect from her.
We've got a really bright paddler in the form of Soumyajit Ghosh, ranked 68. He's 23 and will be going into his second Olympics and that will count a lot. He's spent a lot of time training in Sweden, so I'm happy with the exposure he's got and I'm expecting a lot from him in Rio. He's the highest ranked Indian men's player, so that should tell one how good he is at this age. He easily has another 10-12 years to play.
Sharath Kamal (ranked 75) is the most experienced of the lot and was the highest-ranked Indian when he was 32nd back in 2015. He didn't have the best of seasons due to constant injuries but he's shown how good he is to bounce back and get himself into a playing condition. This is going to be his third Olympics, so I would say that Sharath would definitely lead the pack.
China, China, China. Who else but them for the tag of favourites. The top four ranked men are from there while it's the three in the women's category. Just go by their records (4 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze in 2008 followed by 4 gold, 2 silver in 2012) and they have dominated the sport to such an extent that they don't just bag gold, but you see a Chinese player finishing second too.
Manika is the only one who's going for the first time. This is Sharath's third, Mouma's second. I met them at the Asian Cup and a few days back in Chandigarh. I told them to do their best. 'Your job is to work hard to the best of one's ability', I had said. 'During the Olympics, you need to do much more than give your 100 per cent'.
The mood in the camp is very good. All of them have a good equation amongst themselves. They have helped Manika ease in so so well that she doesn't feel out of place. You see them sitting and cheering for one another during matches. Sharath, being the senior most, has actually led by example in this regard. Normally he mixes and guides the youngsters with ease.
People say that the popularity of the sport depends a lot on how many medals athletes win. I don't think that exists in table tennis. Performing well at the Olympics does bring a lot of pressure but that's what the players have to prove – that they can play with the very best. That's not just seen in table tennis but in every other sport.
–Kamlesh Mehta was the captain of the Indian table tennis team from 1982 to 1989. He participated at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. He became national coach in 1998 and was part of the Indian contingent at the 2004 Athens Games.
