Asian Games: Sreeja Akula Leads India’s Bid to End Table Tennis Bronze Drought

India will enter the table tennis competition at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games with a squad that combines established international names, emerging talent and several promising doubles partnerships.

India have won three Asian Games table tennis medals so far, all bronze. But the current team arrives with stronger international exposure and recent results that suggest the country could mount a serious challenge against the continent’s leading teams.

The 10-member squad includes experienced campaigners such as G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai, while Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah have established themselves as a formidable men’s doubles pair. The women’s team is led by Sreeja Akula and also features Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Syndrela Das.

India will also draw confidence from their performance at the 2026 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, where the country won both team titles. However, the Asian Games represent a much tougher assignment, with several of Asia’s strongest table tennis nations competing.

Sathiyan, Manav and Manush Anchor Men’s Team

Sathiyan, Harmeet, Manav, Manush and Payas Jain make up the men’s squad, with Ankur Bhattacharjee and Ronit Bhanja listed as reserves.

Sathiyan, Harmeet and Manav were members of India’s men’s team that won bronze at the 2018 Asian Games, giving the current squad players with previous continental-medal experience.

Much of the attention will be on Manav and Manush, who are ranked third in the world in men’s doubles. The two reunited at senior level in 2023 after playing together during their junior careers and have since developed into a strong right-left combination.

Manav’s counter-attacking style works well alongside Manush’s aggressive left-handed approach. The pair came close to a medal at the 2022 Asian Games, held in Hangzhou in 2023, but exited in the quarter-finals.

They return to the Asian Games with considerably more experience and a much higher position in the global rankings. Sathiyan and Harmeet also provide another experienced doubles combination, while Payas adds depth to both the team and singles events.

Sreeja Akula Leads Women’s Challenge

Sreeja Akula will be one of the key figures in India’s women’s campaign. She gained valuable experience at the Paris Olympics, where she advanced to the women’s singles round of 16.

At Paris 2024, Sreeja defeated Singapore’s Zeng Jian 4-2 before her campaign ended against then world No. 1 Sun Yingsha. She also contributed to India’s historic women’s team run, joining Archana Kamath in the opening doubles match as India defeated fourth-seeded Romania 3-2 to reach the quarter-finals.

Yashaswini Ghorpade adds momentum after defeating Sreeja in the women’s singles final at the 2026 Commonwealth Championships. Sreeja and Syndrela Das also captured the women’s doubles title at the same event.

At 17, Syndrela is among the youngest members of the squad and is set to make her Asian Games debut. Her selection also highlights the increasing depth in India’s women’s table tennis programme.

Manika Batra Selection Creates Debate

The composition of the women’s squad also attracted attention after Manika Batra was placed among the reserves rather than selected in the main team.

The Table Tennis Federation of India’s selection system gives 50 per cent weightage to national rankings, 40 per cent to international rankings and 10 per cent to the selectors’ discretion.

Batra was ranked 51st in the world when the squad was finalised but did not have a national ranking because she had not participated in domestic events. She raised questions about the transparency of the selection process, while the federation maintained that her candidature had been evaluated according to the prescribed criteria.

Can India Improve on Its Asian Games Record?

India’s first Asian Games table tennis medal came at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, where the men’s team won bronze. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra then added another bronze in mixed doubles.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games, held in 2023, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee won India’s third table tennis medal by securing bronze in women’s doubles.

India have therefore won three Asian Games table tennis medals but are yet to claim a silver or gold.

The Aichi-Nagoya Games present another opportunity to challenge that record. Manav and Manush bring a world-class doubles ranking, Sreeja has Olympic experience at the singles level, while Yashaswini enters the competition as the reigning Commonwealth singles champion.

Sathiyan and Harmeet, meanwhile, provide experience that could prove important in the team events.

The challenge will be significantly greater than at the Commonwealth Championships, with Asia’s established table tennis powers providing a much higher level of competition. India’s task will be to translate its recent progress, strong doubles combinations and growing international experience into results on the continental stage.

With three bronze medals already in the record books, the Aichi-Nagoya Games offer India another opportunity to build on that foundation and compete for a place beyond the bronze-medal bracket.

INDIA TABLE TENNIS SQUAD FOR ASIAN GAMES 2026

• Men: G Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah, Payas Jain
• Women: Sreeja Akula, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Diya Chitale, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Syndrela Das
• Reserves: Ankur Bhattacharjee, Ronit Bhanja (men); Swastika Ghosh, Manika Batra (women)

INDIA’S TABLE TENNIS MEDAL WINNERS IN ASIAN GAMES

2018 — Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia

Bronze: Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sharath Kamal & Manav Thakkar — Men’s team
Bronze: Sharath Kamal & Manika Batra — Mixed doubles

2022 — Hangzhou, China

Bronze: Sutirtha Mukherjee & Ayhika Mukherjee — Women’s doubles

TABLE TENNIS SCHEDULE FOR ASIAN GAMES

September 20, Sunday

Men’s team – group stage
Women’s team – group stage

September 21, Monday

Men’s team – group stage and knockout rounds
Women’s team – group stage and knockout rounds
Women’s doubles – opening round

September 22, Tuesday

Men’s team – round of 16 and quarter-finals
Women’s team – round of 16 and quarter-finals
Mixed doubles – opening rounds

September 23, Wednesday

Men’s team – semi-finals
Women’s team – semi-finals
Men’s singles – opening round
Women’s singles – opening round
Men’s doubles – opening round
Mixed doubles – preliminary rounds

September 24, Thursday

Men’s team – final
Women’s team – final
Men’s singles – preliminary round
Women’s doubles – preliminary round

September 25, Friday

Men’s singles – preliminary rounds
Women’s singles – preliminary rounds
Men’s doubles – preliminary rounds
Women’s doubles – preliminary rounds
Mixed doubles – quarter-finals and semi-finals

September 26, Saturday

Men’s singles – quarter-finals
Women’s singles – quarter-finals
Men’s doubles – quarter-finals
Women’s doubles – quarter-finals
Mixed doubles – final

September 27, Sunday

Men’s doubles – semi-finals and final

Women’s singles – semi-finals and final

September 28, Monday

Men’s singles – semi-finals and final
Women’s doubles – semi-finals and final