Soumyajit, Manika qualify for Rio through Asian Olympic table tennis tourney
Manika Batra and Soumyajit Ghosh have qualified for the Rio Olympics after finishing first in the South Asian quota of the Asian Olympic table tennis tournament. This will be the first Olympic appearance for Manika, who has won two silver and two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Championship.
There was a two-way tie between K Shamini and Manika in the all-Indian women's league, but the later qualified having beaten Shamini in the league.
In the all-Indian men’s league, Soumyajit defeated Sharath Kamal, Antony Amalraj, and Harmeet Desai to finish with six points, with Sharath coming second.
“It’s a special feeling to qualify for my second successive Olympics. I have been preparing for this for a long time,” Soumyajit told the Hindu. He also said that beating Harmeet was “emotional” and while his 4-0 victory over the reigning National champion Amalraj was “surprising as he had just beaten Sharath earlier and defeated me in the National championship”.