Paris Olympics: ‘We have the ability to beat any team’ – Monalisa

Paris Olympics: We have the ability to beat any team, says Monalisa Baruah Mehta

Monalisa Baruah Mehta interview with MAHABAHU

Kula Pradip Bhagawati

Arjuna awardee and national table tennis champion Monalisa Baruah Mehta believes that the Indian team has the ability to upset any team at the Paris Olympics and insisted that the team’s preparation was well on track to perform at their optimum best in the French capital.

The Indian table tennis contingent created history earlier this year when both the men’s and women’s teams qualified for the Olympics for the first time and the preparatory camps, in Bengaluru from June 7-16 and in Saarbrucken, Germany earlier this month, were focused on working out the perfect combinations for the team events at the Paris Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to August 11.

“On a given day, I think we really have a very good chance of beating any team. We have won against top teams in the world in the past and it is possible this time also if we give our best. In the Olympics, if all three of us can put on the best show then anything is possible,” the former table tennis player from Assam said during an interview with MAHABAHU.

Speaking about the rise of Indian table tennis on the world stage, Monalisa credited the central government’s various schemes and the launch of Ultimate Table Tennis in 2017 for the development of the sport.

“UTT has helped us get more experience and exposure to play with international players and get guidance from foreign coaches. That was not the case before 2017. So, this kind of experience has helped the players get more self-belief and perform well in the international arena,” Monalisa said.

The Indian men’s team will face China in the opening round while the women’s team will open their campaign against Romania. The individual events will be played from July 27 to August 4 whereas the team events are scheduled from August 5 to 10.

The five categories for the sport are men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s team, and women’s team. Notably, India is set to field six athletes in table tennis across categories, led by Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra. The Indian table tennis contingent still eyes its maiden Olympic medal in the sport.

 India’s table tennis squad for Paris Games: Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath.

Reserve players: G Sathiyan and Ayhika Mukherjee. Notably, the reserve players can feature only in case of any injuries.

 This will be the first instance of India participating in the team table tennis events at the Olympics. Notably, the men’s and women’s team events were introduced at the Olympic Games in 2008 (Beijing).

 Manika is among the top contenders to script history in table tennis in Paris. She will feature in her third successive Super Olympics (also in 2016 and 2020). In Tokyo, Batra became the first Indian paddler to reach the third round (singles) at the Olympics.

Sharath, India’s top-ranked men’s singles player in table tennis, will appear at the Olympics for the fifth time.

 On the sidelines is coach Massimo Costantini, due to be part of his fourth Olympics — one as a player and three as a coach. He’s worked alongside the Italian team, the USA team and has been part of the Indian setup for over a decade now.

Despite the experienced stalwarts to steer the squad, there is acceptance of modern technology to aid their chances. With sports analytics playing a pivotal role, table tennis is not behind. 66-year-old Costantini has video analysis going back to 2009 from his first assignment in the country.

“Technology can help us where the human eye maybe is not able to detect certain things or maybe we have an idea, technology can give to the coaches some additional support and to give to the players additional awareness about their performance, whether it is in the training or in the competition or any other attitude they display during the performance.

So it can be also helpful for tactics, not only for our players but also in viewing other opponents,” said Monalisa in a conversation with MAHABAHU.

KULAPRADIP BHAGAWATI WAS THE FIRST JOURNALIST FROM THE NORTHEAST WHO COVERED THE THREE BIG SPORTS EVENT LIKE OLYMPIC (2012 , London), FIFA WORLD CUP (2014, Brazil) AND CRICKET WORLD CUP (2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2023).

26-07-2024

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