![\"images](\"images\/table-tennis\/images%204.jpg\")
New Delhi: After having spent quality time at an \u201cintensive\u201d camp for a fortnight at NIS, Patiala, the 10-member Indian table tennis teams is upbeat about their performance at the Tokyo World Championships to be held between April 28 and May 5.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s team comprises A. Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai and national champion Sanil Shetty, while K. Shamini, Madhurika Patkar, Manika Batra, Pooja Sahasrabudhe and national champion Ankita Das will form the women\u2019s squad. They will be accompanied by foreign coach Peter Engel and national coach Bhawani Mukherjee.<\/p>\n
The team, minus Sharath Kamal, will leave for Japan today evening from here while the Indian spearhead will join the squad at Tokyo from Germany.
Talking on the preparations for the worlds, the German coach said that the teams have a \u201cvery good\u201d chance of putting up a better show this time around. \u201cBoth teams had finished at 27 in the last worlds (in 2012) in Germany and I am sure they will do still better at Tokyo,\u201d said Engel, now a resident of Barcelona in Spain.<\/p>\n
The coach spoke highly of the \u201cyoung team\u201d with the experienced Sharath Kamal taking charge. \u201cI am really impressed with the way the boys, particularly Soumyajit Ghosh and Amalraj, have been preparing at the camp. Even Harmeet and Sanil have been in great form. I want them to translate this form into winning matches at the Japanese capital. I have watched Sharath in recent times and, believe me, he is in a great shape,\u201d added Engel.<\/p>\n
As for the girls, he said there was a great \u201cteam spirit\u201d among them, adding he had been working on their better movements on the court and at the table. \u201cOur training, apart from covering the technical and tactical aspects, also included about several sessions on better movements. I see vast improvements and they will do them a world of good at the championships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Praising on the physical fitness, Engel said that Madhurika had shed five kilos and it would help her perform better. \u201cPhysical and mental fitness are the two aspects we put our emphasis on and they have yielded results. You will see a different Shamini and a leaner Madhurika from now on. We have two first-timers too in Madhurika and Manika for the world meet. I am sure they will also do very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Combing back to the chances at Tokyo, both Engel and Bhawani Mukherjee said that India had a very good chance. The men\u2019s team is in a far easier group than the women\u2019s who have a big hurdle in Turkey.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s team in Group F is pitted against Italy, Iran, Argentina, Australia and Paraguay while the women\u2019s squad, in group G, has Italy, Turkey, Nigeria, Portugal and Bulgaria\u2014all part of the second division teams with India taking top perch in both sections. The team that leads the group will automatically qualify for the quarter-finals and get byes into the draw of 16. Two other teams, making the cut from each group, will play the second stage which is the pre-quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s squad will open their campaign against Argentina on April 28 in the morning while the women will have wait till the evening for their opening match against Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi: After having spent quality time at an \u201cintensive\u201d camp for a fortnight at NIS, Patiala, the 10-member Indian table tennis teams is upbeat about their performance at the Tokyo World Championships to be held between April 28 and May 5.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s team comprises A. Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai and national champion Sanil Shetty, while K. Shamini, Madhurika Patkar, Manika Batra, Pooja Sahasrabudhe and national champion Ankita Das will form the women\u2019s squad. They will be accompanied by foreign coach Peter Engel and national coach Bhawani Mukherjee.<\/p>\n
The team, minus Sharath Kamal, will leave for Japan today evening from here while the Indian spearhead will join the squad at Tokyo from Germany.
Talking on the preparations for the worlds, the German coach said that the teams have a \u201cvery good\u201d chance of putting up a better show this time around. \u201cBoth teams had finished at 27 in the last worlds (in 2012) in Germany and I am sure they will do still better at Tokyo,\u201d said Engel, now a resident of Barcelona in Spain.<\/p>\n
The coach spoke highly of the \u201cyoung team\u201d with the experienced Sharath Kamal taking charge. \u201cI am really impressed with the way the boys, particularly Soumyajit Ghosh and Amalraj, have been preparing at the camp. Even Harmeet and Sanil have been in great form. I want them to translate this form into winning matches at the Japanese capital. I have watched Sharath in recent times and, believe me, he is in a great shape,\u201d added Engel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-more-sports-more-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n