Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament: When and where to watch, live-streaming details

After an eventful WTT Contender Series and the World Olympic Qualification Tournament, India's star paddlers will set their sights on the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament that starts in Doha on March 18.

Achanta Sharath Kamal (32) and G Sathiyan (37) enter the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament as the highest-ranked Asians in men’s singles. Nooshad Alamiyan (72) and Kirill Gerassimenko (43) are the only two other paddlers in the competition within the top-100.

With all the top players already having made the cut, the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament offers some more paddlers the chance to fulfill their Tokyo Olympic dream.

After a long drawn 11 month break, very happy to come back & play intl. tournaments of this level. Didn’t know what to expect when the tournaments started but glad to maintain the level from where I left off. Half done here as World Oly and Asian Oly Qualifications coming up. pic.twitter.com/Vpuz8h0bbi

— Sharath Kamal OLY (@sharathkamal1) March 11, 2021

In the women’s category, Thailand’s Suthasini Sawettabut will start her campaign as the top-ranked Asian in 40th place, while India’s Manika Batra is the second-best women's paddler at 63rd. The third Indian in this section is Sutirtha Mukherjee, who is ranked 95th. Six spots will be up for grabs in each of the men’s and women’s categories.

Meanwhile, there is only one qualifying spot on offer in mixed doubles, where India will be represented by Kamal and Batra. A win would see them become the first Indian pair to play at the Olympics in mixed doubles. The Indian duo might receive stiff competition from the Korean pair of Joen Ji-hee and Lee Sang-su, currently ranked fifth in the world.

Good point against Harimoto Tomokazu💪💪Credits : WTT@ittfworld #sathiyantt #tabletennis #wtt #sports #wttdoha #worldtabletennis pic.twitter.com/hRFKztRI5W

— Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (@sathiyantt) March 11, 2021

Here are the details you need to know about the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament

Tournament: Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament

Dates: March 18-20, 2021

Venue: Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena

City: Doha

Category: Men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles

India's schedule & start times at Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament

Thursday, March 18

South Asia Men’s Singles Round 1 - 12:30 PM IST

Mixed Doubles Round of 16 - 4:30 PM IST

South Asia Men’s Singles Round 2 - 5:00 PM IST

Mixed Doubles Quarter-Final - 8:00 PM IST

South Asia Women’s Singles Final: 10:00 PM IST

South Asia Men’s Singles Final - 10:40 PM IST

Friday, March 19

Mixed Doubles Semi-Final - 6:45 PM IST

Saturday, March 20

Mixed Doubles Final - 12:30 PM IST

Where to watch the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament?

Since the World Olympic Qualification Tournament was live-streamed on the ITTF Facebook page, it is assumed that the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament will also be shown live on the same. There has been no official communication regarding the same as of yet.