It was a mixed bag, with more hits than misses in 2023. Since I am an eternal optimist, I would prefer to highlight the positives of Indian table tennis.
The toast of the year obviously goes to the Mukherjees — Sutirtha and Ayhika — for winning the bronze in women’s doubles in Hangzhou. Ever since the duo started pairing regularly midway through the year, they have made the world sit up and take notice, and the Asian Games medal was a testimony to their ability.
Indian table tennis in 2024: India’s fortunes tied to Paris exploits
Even in men’s doubles, Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar narrowly missed out on a medal. And the same two pairs also made it to the quarterfinals of the Asian Championships, a first for India with two doubles pairs featuring in the top eight. I just hope that these youngsters continue to improve, and I won’t be surprised if they continue to stun more fancied opponents in 2024.
Manika Batra continued to excel and even registered her career-high ranking in singles, but had an up-and-down year at times. She will have to do her best to rise higher in the rankings and keep the Indian flag flying high.
As for the men’s section, it was heartening to see Harmeet Desai come out of the shadows of old warhorse A. Sharath Kamal and G. Sathiyan and emerge as India’s highest-ranked paddler. That he regained the National Championship title after a long time must have come as a cherry on top!
From a fan perspective, the year also saw the return of Ultimate Table Tennis, the franchise-based league, after the pandemic-induced hiatus. More importantly, Goa hosting the first-ever WTT Star Contender event was perhaps the most significant milestone in Indian table tennis so far. It received a tremendous response from the fans across the globe, and the continual hosting of the event in the next few years will not only improve India’s stature in world table tennis but also help in making the game even more popular with the masses. It was also gratifying to see para-athletes continuing to make merry on the big stage. Bhavina Patel again made the country proud, with Sandeep Dangi also winning a medal.
On the world youth circuit, multiple promising youngsters excelled at the international level, thus proving that the domestic structure is creating a platform for them to bring more laurels to the country. A special mention goes to Suhana Saini and Yashaswini Ghorpade, who topped the world youth ranking charts. Yashaswini also became the first junior to claim a singles title at a WTT Contender event.
I just hope that all these steps will result in India having optimum participation and improved results at Paris 2024.
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