HOPING FOR OPTIMAL PARTICIPATION AND IMPROVED RESULTS IN PARIS
From a fan perspective, the return of Ultimate Table Tennis, the franchise-based league, after the pandemic-induced hiatus was exciting.
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.
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.
In a productive 2023 calendar, Indian women boxers, who secured four world titles, four Asian Games medals, and four Olympic quota places, fared better than their male counterparts and held promise in the Olympic year. The women began in style, claiming four gold medals in the World Championships held in Delhi. Nikhat Zareen raised her profile by earning a second consecutive world crown, this time in the 50kg weight category, after her maiden title in 52kg in Istanbul in 2022. Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain reaffirmed her dominance in the heavier 75kg weight class by adding the World Championships gold to her Asian Championships crown.
Saweety Boora upgraded her silver medal from 2014 to complete a sensational performance from the host, while former world youth champion Nitu Ghangas pocketed her first World Championship gold medal in 48kg.
The Indian women showed their prowess once again, this time at the
Asian Games, as they bagged a silver (Lovlina, 75 kg) and three bronze medals (Nikhat, 50 kg, Preeti Pawar, 54 kg, and Parveen Hooda, 57 kg). All four booked their tickets to the Paris Olympics as well.
Young Preeti impressed by registering some upset wins in the World Championships and followed it up with a medal in Hangzhou. Parveen, a 63kg bronze medallist in the 2022 World Championships, lost six kg to shine in a lighter weight.
Meanwhile, the Indian male boxers had a decent year. They won three bronze medals at the World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The promising duo of Deepak Bhoria (51kg), who lived up to his reputation of being a giant killer, and the young Nishant Dev (71kg), who beat a Cuban boxer in a World Championship — a rare occurrence for an Indian boxer — produced some spectacular performances. The experienced and technically sound Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) finally made his presence felt at the highest level by climbing the podium.
But the Indian men’s showing dipped in the Asian Games. Only Narender Berwal (+92kg) managed a bronze medal, while none could win an Olympic quota place.
Hussamuddin’s left knee injury at the World Championships was a big setback. Indian boxing lovers would hope for his timely recovery from the surgery and his return to form ahead of the Olympics, as the seasoned boxer is capable of securing a ticket to Paris.
As the sole focus in 2024 will be on qualifying for the Olympics and doing well there, efforts will be made to earn two remaining quota places in the women’s section and gather as many as possible in the men’s section.
In the Tokyo Olympics, India sent nine entries, and the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) would like to see at least a matching number of entries this time and a better showing than just one bronze medal.
Meanwhile, the much-debated assessment system, introduced by high-performance director Bernard Dunne in place of the old selection trials to pick boxers for big events, was under the scanner, with several boxers moving court. It is another matter that they did not get any favourable verdicts.
The new system, under which the
boxers are assessed on several factors and put through an evaluation process over a few weeks, has given rise to a constant rivalry between some world-class boxers, including those who have switched to newer weights to stake their claim for the Olympics.
Amit Panghal, a former Worlds silver medallist, recently secured the gold medal at the National Championships, making a notable comeback. He aims to challenge Deepak in the 51kg category. In the 57kg category, Sachin Siwach poses a potential challenge for Hussamuddin, while the 71kg division may witness intriguing bouts between the talented national champion Akash Sangwan and Nishant. Established boxers like
Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), a former Worlds medallist and two-time Olympian, and Sanjeet (92kg), a former Asian champion, also have the prospect of qualifying for the Paris Games.
The coaching staff is still sweating over the limited options in the 80kg weight class, which includes Olympian Ashish Kumar and national champion Lakshya Chahar. Chahar is currently nursing an injury.
It would be interesting to see if anyone can challenge Narender in +92kg, especially after Olympian Satish Kumar was beaten in the national championships in Shillong and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Sagar Ahlawat was knocked out (KO) in the final at the Meghalaya capital last month.
In the event of a KO or Referee Stops Contest (RSC), the ringside doctor is required to complete and sign a medical bout report. This report is then submitted to the Technical Delegate along with the