Indians have a big chance of qualifying for the singles table tennis event at Tokyo Olympics, says G Sathiyan

Despite the Indian men's and women's table tennis teams missing out on an opportunity to secure qualification for the Tokyo Olympics in the 2020 ITTF World Team Qualification tournament in Portugal, earlier this month, the top Indian TT players still have a chance to book a berth in the singles competition. India’s TT star G Sathiyan expressed that the top Indian singles players have a great chance of qualifying for the Olympics.

 "Table tennis has improved by leaps and bounds in India. The very fact that we were the favourites in such a big tournament like the Olympic qualification talks about how we have grown in the last four years. We have started proving our mettle in the world arena. It's not an easy job for teams to take on India now. The exposure for all the players has increased with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) sending us for a lot of training camps abroad and the Ultimate Table Tennis (table tennis league) is making India a table tennis destination. It's a culmination of a lot of things that have helped the sport grow in India," said the 27-year-old.

 "The Khelo India University Games is quite a good tournament because I feel the competition will bridge the gap between the youth athletes and top athletes. There are school games for the youth athletes and the top athletes are being supported by the government through the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. So the university-level in India needed to be addressed as a lot of athletes drop out at this level due to lack of support. I am really happy that the government is starting the University Games as we can find the real big talents at this level, who can make a mark for our country," signed off Sathiyan.