Paris: Indian men's table tennis team is set to face a formidable challenge as they compete against four-time gold medalists China in the opening round of the Paris Olympics. The women's team, meanwhile, will face Romania in the round of 16. They could face , the Rio 2016 silver medallists Germany, in the second round. Notably, India have qualified for team events in table tennis for the first time. On the other hand, China have won the gold medal in the men’s event at all the editions, since the introduction of team events at the Olympics in 2008. In the singles women's singles event, star paddler Manika Batra, who is seeded 18, will begin her campaign against Anna Hursey, teenager from Great Britain. Manika, who is competing in her third Olympics after making her debut in Rio 2016, made it to the third round at Tokyo 2020 in women’s singles.

Hursey, on the other hand, will be making her Olympic debut. Another Indian, Sreeja Akula was seeded 16, and will take on Sweden’s Christina Kallberg in her round-of-64 match. In men’s singles, veteran Sharath Kamal, who will mark his record fifth Olympic appearance, will face 27-year-old Deni Kozul of Slovenia in the opening round. Harmeet Desai, meanwhile, will start his campaign in the preliminary round. Desai will face Zaid Abo Yaman of Jordan on July 27. The preliminary round in men’s and women’s singles will include three matches each. The winners of the preliminary round will qualify for the round of 64. Harmeet will face world no. 5 Frenchman Felix Lebrun if he wins the preliminary round. Table tennis competitions at Paris Olympics will take place between July 27 to August 10. All five competitions - men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, men's team and women’s team will be played at the South Paris Arena.

(IANS)