The Indian men's and women's teams have both qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 on Monday for the first time, based on their world team rankings. (More Sports News)
Last month, the World Team Championships Finals were held in Busan. This event was the final opportunity for teams to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Seven spots in the team events were available and were awarded to teams based on their rankings.
"The highest-ranked teams not yet qualified in the latest World Team Ranking booked their ticket to Paris 2024," ITTF said.
In the women's event, India, ranked 13th, Poland (12th), Sweden (15th), and Thailand have qualified for Paris. Croatia (12th), Slovenia (11th), and India (15th) have qualified in the men's team event.
"Finally!!!! India qualifies for the team event at the Olympics! Something I have wanted for a long long time! This one is truly special, despite it being my fifth appearance at the Olympics! Kudos to our Women’s Team who also secure a historical quota!" veteran Sharath Kamal tweeted.
This is a significant moment in the history of Indian table tennis as the country will be participating in the team event at the Olympics for the first time since it was introduced in the Beijing 2008 Games.
At the ITTF World Team Championships Finals, both Indian teams were unable to secure Olympic berths after being eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals.
The men's table tennis team, led by veteran Sharath, suffered a 0-3 defeat to South Korea, while the women's team, led by Manika Batra, lost 1-3 to Chinese Taipei.
