The third Grand Smash table tennis tournament in 2024 and the inaugural WTT China Smash is scheduled to take place on September 26 at Shougang Park in China.
The event marks the return of a top-level international tournament to China for the first time in 63 years.
The last time China hosted a major international table tennis tournament was the 1961 World Table Tennis Championships.
🏓 China Smash starts tomorrow! 😍
🇮🇳Entry List Changes:
MS Main Draw:
Manav Thakar joins Sharath Kamal
MS Qualies currently:
Sathyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Manush Shah, Snehit Suravajra
The rest is the same 👇 https://t.co/JRgJxhcjkF
— Harini Raman (@ASimpleStardust) September 25, 2024
Powerful Indian troops
Indian table tennis has gone from strength to strength in recent years and in the China Smash, India is fielding a strong line-up of paddlers with all of its top players expected to compete in the tournament.
All eyes will be on Sreeja Acra, who will be returning to table tennis for the first time since the Paris Olympics.
Ranked 23rd in the world, she is India's highest-ranked paddler, closely followed by Manika Batra, ranked 28th in the world, and both will be competing in the main draw of the tournament.
In the doubles category, Suthirta Mukherjee and Aihika Mukherjee will be seeded directly into the main draw.
In the men's category, ace paddler Sharat Kamal will be competing in the main draw along with Manav Thakkar.
Sathyan G, Harmeet Desai, Manush Shah and Snehit Suravajra will advance to the qualifying rounds in the men's singles.
Meanwhile, Dia Chitale, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Aihika Mukherjee and Suthirta Mukherjee will also be competing in the women's singles qualifying round.
Manush Shah and Dia Chitale will also pair up in the mixed doubles event in the main draw.
High expectations for female paddlers
Former Indian national team coach S. Raman is more optimistic about India's women paddlers and his former student Sathyan Gnanasekaran, who was a reserve player on the men's team at the Paris Olympics.
Speaking to The Bridge over phone, Raman was optimistic about India's chances of winning the 2024 China Open.
“I think the women's team in particular have a good chance of doing well. As for the men's team, judging by their current form, it will depend more on the draw than the women's team,” he said.
Raman was also quick to add that the women's team will not be bothered by the draw.
“Even if it's a tough or slightly difficult bracket, it's not going to be as much of a problem for the girls as it is for the boys, who are out of form.”
He was confident about Sathyan's preparations for the China Open.
Sathyan performed well in the UTT and led his team, Dabangg Delhi, to the final, finishing as a runner-up.
“Sathiyan has worked well on rhythm, form and match practice, which should benefit him,” Raman said.
That being said, Raman pointed out some areas for improvement.
“He's made small improvements in a few different areas that could add up to a big part of the overall scheme of things. Whether it's improving his long serve, short serve, getting more angles of attack, or receiving serves, those little improvements can make a difference.”
While there are doubts about the men's team's form and performance, the former India player believes they could take inspiration from the women's team.
“The cycle is now changing and I hope the boys will take inspiration and motivation from the girls to work hard, give it their all and improve. The talent is there,” he said.
The first three days will see the qualifying rounds for various categories before the main competition gets underway on September 29.
