Table tennis | Derailed Olympic preparation back on track after Manika agrees to attend national camp

Around 16 people will be part of the camp from June 20 to July 5, including 12 players and four support staff.

Indian table tennis contingent’s Olympic preparations got a much needed boost on Friday when star paddler Manika Batra agreed to join the national camp in Sonepat to train with mixed doubles partner and veteran Sharath Kamal. Earlier, both Manika and G Sathiyan had expressed their unavailability to attend the camp, preferring to continue training in Pune and Chennai respectively with their coaches. That was a big setback to India’s build up for the July-August Olympic Games where India have a medal chance, albeit a slight one, for the first time ever after winning the mixed doubles qualifying event.