Indian table tennis probables for Commonwealth Games to train in Bengaluru from May 23

India's Archana Kamath (L) and Manika Batra at the Asian Table Tennis Championships. (PC: Getty Images)
India's Archana Kamath (L) and Manika Batra at the Asian Table Tennis Championships. (PC: Getty Images)

The Indian table tennis selection committee has named 16 probables for the Indian team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, the two top-ranked Indian men's paddlers, along with India No. 1 women's player Manika Batra, headline the probables.

The paddlers will train at a national training camp from May 23-30 at the Padukone-Dravid Center for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru.

The Indian national team for the Commonwealth Games will be announced by the panel of selectors after the conclusion of the national camp.

Read: Indian paddler Manika Batra attains career-best singles ranking in latest ITTF rankings list

Along with the top-ranked players, Manush Shah, S. F. R. Snehit, Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty, and Anirban Ghosh are the men's group probables.

In the women's category, Archana Kamath, Akula Sreeja, Reeth Rishya, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Ayhika Mukherjee, Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh, along with Manika Batra, form the probables.

Indian paddlers have seen a meteoric rise in the world rankings of late. While Manika Batra is ranked 38 in the world after a jump of 10 places, Sathiyan is now ranked 34, an increase of five spots.

Sharath Kamal, meanwhile, is placed at 38 in the world. He, along with Sathiyan, are the only two Indians in the top-100 rankings.

Also read: Neha Aggarwal: "Manika Batra and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran can win a medal in Commonwealth Games 2022"

In women's doubles, Manika and Archana Kamath are ranked fourth in the world, while in mixed doubles Manika and Sathiyan have achieved a career-best ranking of six.

Sathiyan training with Swedish table tennis player

Meanwhile, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran has been sparring with Swedish paddler Simon Alexander Berglund. The duo are putting in the hard yards at the Raman High Performance TT Center in Chennai.

The 25-year-old left-handed table tennis ace has been a part of the Swedish junior team and also plays in the German Bundesliga.

Apart from the duo, Anthony Amalraj, Anirban Ghosh and several other national and junior champions have been training at the Raman High Performance TT Center.

The sparring will help Sathiyan prepare well for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. He will next be in action in a WTT Contender tournament in Croatia from June 13.

Also read: Keerthana Swaminathan: The sports science and exercise pyschologist behind paddlers

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Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee