Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula make it to probables list for Commonwealth Games

05/10/2022

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Reigning national champions Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula made it to the 16-member probable list for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, scheduled to start on July 28. The training camp for the selected players will be held at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bengaluru.

"The list was finalised after watching the players at the national championships in Shillong, detailed deliberations and discussions on past performance and medal prospects," said Mudgil, who is a former athlete. Earlier, the CoA had taken over the functioning of the TTFI, after the office-bearers were suspended by the Delhi HC.

"We want to take the game to every nook and corner of the country. Our focus is also on making the administration transparent. Justice Gita Mittal has been very proactive on that front. The performance of our athletes has also been encouraging of late. They give us a lot of hope going into the CWG and Asian Games (now postponed) and Olympics 2024," said Mudgil.

It was earlier this month, that a host of players grew exponentially in the IITF rankings. Manika Batra rose to a career-high of 38, while G Sathiyan is the best-placed male at 34. Sharath, on the other hand, is ranked 37th, while Akula gained 39 places to be 68th in the world.

Meanwhile, the Indian team does not have a coach since 2018, and that is something that the CoA is still working on.

"We are working on that as well and hope to finalise soon," added Mudgil.

Probables list for CWG

Men: G Sathyian, Sharath Kamal, Manush Shah, Snehit Fidel Rafeeque, Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty, Anirban Ghosh

Women: Manika Batra, Archana Kamath, Shreeja Akula, Reeth Rishya, Suthirtha Mukherjee, Ayhika Mukherjee, Diya Chitale, Swastika Ghosh.