Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 10 (ANI): Table tennis legend and multi-time Commonwealth and Asian Games medalist Achanta Sharath Kamal said that he cannot wait to hold the Indian flag as the country’s flag-bearer during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 and expressed confidence that the contingent will secure a double-digit tally of medals this time around.
Kamal was speaking at the player draft of the fifth season of Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) on Wednesday.
Speaking to ANI, Kamal said about being the country’s flag bearer at the Olympics opening ceremony, “I cannot wait for July 26 when I hold the flag in the hand to lead the contingent. I could not believe when it was announced. But the whole table tennis community was happy that a table tennis player is going to lead the contingent.”
Two-time Olympic medallist and 2019 World Champion in badminton PV Sindhu will be India’s female flag-bearer alongside veteran Table Tennis player A Sharath Kamal in the opening ceremony of Paris Olympics 2024 beginning on July 26 while Gagan Narang has been chosen to replace MC Mary Kom as the Chef-de-Mission of the Indian contingent.
On the medal tally for the 2024 Olympics, Kamal said that he is confident that the Indian contingent will touch a double-digit figure in medal tally since athletes are performing really well in international events across sports.
“A lot of good performances have come recently in various sports. Every athlete is putting his best in international events. This time we will bring medals in double digits and will beat the world’s best in several sports,” he said.
The Paris Olympics 2024 will start on July 26 and conclude on August 11. India will look to outdo its tally of seven medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included a gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.
On the fifth season of UTT, Kamal said that the competition has given Indian players a fine level of exposure and made their knowledge of top-level table tennis better.
“As players, we have got some fine exposure, being able to play against foreign players, train with them, understand top-level table tennis. This has given us a lot of confidence while playing against some of the best in the world. The future generations will also benefit from this,” he concluded.
UTT is set to gear up for an exciting new season in Chennai. The tournament will kick off on August 22 and will conclude on September 7 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.
The UTT will be an eight-team league for the first time providing a platform for young Indian paddlers to exhibit their talent alongside the many elite players. This significant expansion of the tournament will aim to elevate the standard of competition and foster the growth of emerging talent in table tennis.
The league announced the inclusion of two franchises in the tournament, the Ahmedabad SG Pipers and the Jaipur Patriots.
Each team will maintain a roster of six players, including two foreign players, as they all contend for the coveted title this season.
The format has undergone a slight alteration with the inclusion of eight teams, that will now be divided into two groups of four teams each. Each franchisee will continue to compete in five ties during the league stage, facing all other teams within their respective group once, alongside two randomly selected teams from the opposing group, determined through a draw. (ANI)
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