With some good performance it will be interesting to see if India can become a powerhouse
From Winning its first WTT contender to shake Chinese women’s team, 2024 was an eventful year for Indian TT.
Some surprises, heartbreaks and historic firsts highlighted the year . Here are some events and Indian paddlers who made an impression in World Table Tennis.
SREEJA AKULA –
Sreeja had a struggling 2023 but in 2024 she did a fresh comeback winning her maiden title in
January – WTT feeder Corpus Christi . 26 year paddler started the year as world no.89 ending with a glorious rank of 23 .
Back in August Akula achieved the highest rank by an Indian individual player i.e. World rank 21.
She becomes the first Indian player to win a WTT contender title in Lagos.
Sreeja was a part of Asian bronze glory. She got better of then world no.2 Wang Yidi but a tough loss against the eventual olympics champion Sun Yingsha at Olympics must have been a good learning experience for her.
At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Akula advanced to the pre-quarterfinals in women’s singles, becoming only the second Indian paddler to reach this stage at the Olympics.
She achieved this milestone by defeating Sweden’s Christina Kallberg 4-0 in the round of 64 and Singapore’s Zeng Jian 4-2 in the round of 32
MANIKA BATRA :
Manika showed a steady yet consistent performance in 2024 , ranking wise 35 in January to a year ending 25.
Manika achieved a historic feat by advancing into pre-quarterfinals ,became the first Indian to do so.
She achieved this feat by defeating France’s Prithika Pavade with a commanding 4-0 victory in the Round of 32. However, her Olympic journey concluded in the pre-quarterfinals, where she faced Japan’s Miu Hirano and was defeated 1-4.
Her two memorable win came over Romania’s Bernadette Szocs (h2h 6-5) and Wang Manyu the world number two at Saudi Smash which helped her breaking through top 30.
Continuing her impressive form, Batra reached the quarterfinals of the WTT Champions event in Montpellier.
She secured a notable win against Romania’s Bernadette Szőcs in the Round of 16, becoming the first Indian to advance to the quarterfinals in a WTT Champions event
ACHANTA SHARATH KAMAL :
Ageless Indian veteran Sarath was the flag bearer in his fifth and final olympics.
At Paris he faced an early exit in the men’s singles event. He was defeated in the Round of 64 by Slovenia’s Deni Kozul with a scoreline of 2-4, despite a strong start by winning the first set.
On the domestic front, Sharath Kamal led the Chennai Lions to a historic victory in the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) league.
Singapore Smash was his go to event where he rolled on defeating world rank 13 Darko and world rank 22 Omar Assar being ranked 88 himself. Achanta finishes 2024 as world number 40
Sharath kamal becomes the first Indian ambassador of ITTF foundation of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT).
AYHIKA MUKHERJEE/SUTIRTHA MUKHERJEE :
Bengal girls Ayhika and Sutirtha took women doubles to new heights, when they won a historical bronze in ATTU Asian Championship in their category.
The duo clinched the women’s doubles title at the WTT Contender event in Doha. In the final, they defeated Egypt’s Dina Meshref and Yousra Helmy with a convincing 3-0 victory.
Ayhika also showed Sparks in singles defeating world number one Chinese Sun Yingsha.
She had also got better of WR8 Shin Yubin and WR16 Jihee Jeon at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2024
Some notable events :
– Archana Kamath (2023 national champion) quit Table Tennis to pursue higher education at the age of 24.
– 66-year-old Massimo Costantini returned india as a coach for the third time.
– India becomes the 1st team since 2010 to win two matches against team China at World Table Tennis Team Championship.
– For the first time both Men and Women team qualified for Olympics.
– Women’s team enter quarter finals at Paris Olympics was amongst the historic firsts.
– Table Tennis named among the sports to be cut out in 2026 commonwealth games, Glasgow.
– For the first time ever India won three bronze in ATTU Asian Championship in Both Men and women team along with women’s doubles.
– Manika played for team Asia at inaugural edition of Waldner Cup ; beat team world to win the title.
2024 was the year of recognition for Indian Table Tennis. Players looking to build on this momentum in a new season.
