Kolkata, July 22: The Olympics draw for the table tennis events puts the Indian paddlers in a straitjacket as the mixed pair of A. Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra will faceoff third-seeded Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Chin in the first-round match, beginning at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Sharath and G. Sathiyan can look ahead as they won’t step onto the arena until the second round of the men’s singles on Sunday. Sharath, the top-ranked Indian in the world at 32, will take on the winner of the match between Tiago Apolonia of Portugal and Olajide Omotayo of Nigeria. (UNI)
