With a full house at their disposal Indian table tennis players will look to rewrite history at the Summer Games. The four Olympics-bound paddlers tell Karthik Raman on their plans and ambitions in Rio and indeed how difficult it will be to achieve them
India for the first time will board the plane to Rio for Olympics with a full four-member squad in the singles department of Table Tennis.
A maximum of two players per National Olympic Committee are allowed to compete in both the singles event at the Games. And this time India has it all.
In women's section, experienced veteran Mouma Das will be followed by Olympic newcomer Manika Batra. Whereas in men's, seasoned veteran Sharath Kamal and Soumyajit Ghosh will take the court.
However, qualifying is one thing, but winning a medal is a totally different ball game at Olympics. If any of the four does manage to grab a medal, it will be the first ever time that feat would have been achieved by an Indian paddler in the extravagant Summer Games.
Sharath, who was as high as 32 in rankings last year, remains India's best bet in Rio and he is really optimistic of a medal at Olympics if he gets a favourable draw. "If the draw is favourable, I could make it to the quarterfinals. If I can avoid the top Chinese players in the opening rounds, then I can reach quarterfinals and from there anything can happen. Medal is highly optimistic. I know it is hard, but I will aim for it," says confident Sharath.
Mouma echoes the same view. "It depends on the draw. We are doing better now, but it depends on the draw," she said.
The others remain optimistic of their chances.
"I will try to beat some good ranking players and will atleast try to reach the quarterfinals," said the Delhi-based Manika.
"I am hopeful of reaching the last-16 and will try hard to win a medal," said Ghosh.
However, he concluded that it will be a tough ask for any of the four to do it. "If we can get a medal, it will be good. But, practically it will be difficult," he explained.
Why is it difficult for India to win a medalIJ Sharath explains: "The top Chinese players are 2-3 levels better than the best. Players like Ma long are way ahead than the rest of the world."
Mouma says, "It will be very tough (winning a medal) because Chinese, Japanese and Korean players are there, who are really good."
They are not wrong either. If one takes a closer look at the last three Olympics in table tennis, then we will know how Chinese players have dominated the medals tally.
In 2012 and 2008 Olympics, all the Gold medals in the four categories - men's singles, men's team, women's singles and women's team — were bagged by Chinese players.
The last non-Chinese player to win Gold in table tennis was in 2004 Athens, when Ryu Seung-Min of South Korea defeated Wang Hao of China in the Final. The Gold, however, in the remaining three categories were bagged by China.
So no wonder Sharath and Mouma are placing their luck on the draw. If the Indian players can avoid these big name players in the earlier rounds, they might have a chance against them later on, with momentum on their side.
Sharath, who was the only Indian paddler to qualify for 2008 Beijing Olympics, was unable to make the cut for the london Games in 2012. So, he will be looking to better his round of 32 finish (2008 Beijing Olympics) this August.
"In 2004 (Athens) when I first qualified for Olympics, the feeling was completely different. I was sitting next to the top players from all around the world like Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, so it was really unbelievable and the entire feeling was totally different," he said.
"Now though things have changed. I am used to it as this will be my third Olympics. So, now I need to perform," he added.
The view was echoed by Mouma. "2004 was my first Olympics. I was very young. The hall is different, the place is different. Top paddlers like Wang Nan (China) were sitting next to me. It was very strange. Now, things have changed and I am mature," she reckons.
This will be the third Olympics for Sharath and second for Mouma and Ghosh, while Manika will be having her first crack at the Games.
"I am very excited. This is amazing," said the 20-year-old.
However, the youngest among the four will hope that she does not get carried away with her first time participation and will look to the senior players to help her out.
"Since I am the youngest, the senior players have helped me a lot. Sharath has been really supportive," she said.
For Sharath and Mouma, Rio Olympics could very well be their last chance for glory as the duo aged at 33 and 32, respectively, may very well not be around for the 2020 Tokyo games.
"My best has been round of 32 and I want to improve on it. This could be my last Olympics, so I want to do well in this," Sharath explains.
Seconding him, Mouma said: "Since this could be my last, I want to go out on a high.”
Soumyajit, who was one of the youngest Indian players to qualify for 2012 london Olympics, believes the strong squad and unity between them will also help them in Rio.
"We have a really strong squad and we will try to do our best. I have good experience, playing with the likes of Sharath and Anthony Amalraj. This is helping us and is also very health," he said.
Particulary the rivalry between Gosh and Sharath is an interesting one. Gosh became the youngest national champion when he defeated Sharath at the age of 19. Most recently in the Asia Olympic Games Qualification tournament in Hong Kong, Gosh yet again got the better of Sharath.
However, Gosh denied of having any rivalry feeling and said their competition is only on the court.
"On the court only, we have rivalry. Outside the court, we would look to help each other out. We will be pushing each other to play good and maintain the level," says Soumyajit.