`Olympic medal in mixed doubles is a possibility’

Ace paddler Sharath Kamal, who clinched a historic mixed doubles bronze with Manika Batra at

the Asian Games last year, feels the road to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics seems difficult in the newly-introduced category, but once the spot is booked, a medal win was possible.

"I think mixed doubles is our biggest chance to have that medal (in the Olympics). Firstly, me and Manika did well at the (Asian) Games. I think more than the Olympic Games, the qualification to the Games is harder (in the category)," Sharath told a select group of reporters on Thursday.

"I say so as there are only 16 teams at the Olympic Games so that you start from the round of 16. If you win three matches, you have a medal. So, it's only three matches there, but to get there - that's the more difficult path," Sharath pointed out.

"We are preparing for that. We are exclusively training for mixed doubles and trying to spend more time, because mixed doubles qualification will be through pro-2tournaments (various ITTF ranking events) this year. So it's a ranking of a complete year and we need to perform consistently over the year," he explained.

The mixed doubles category has been included in the Olympics for the first time in the Tokyo Games.