India not content with just qualifying for team events at Paris Games, says coach

India's table tennis team aims for first Olympic medal with renewed hopes and AI-driven training for Paris Games.

India will compete in the men’s and women’s table tennis team event at the Olympics for the first time at the Paris Games after climbing into the top 16 in the rankings, but the team’s coach Massimo Costantini is still not satisfied.

India's table tennis team have had some success at the Commonwealth Games but failed to match that at the Olympics and Asian Games.

However, their qualification for the team events, introduced in 2008, has renewed hopes of a first-ever Olympic medal in the sport, with the Indian men's team ranked 14th in the world as of July, while the women's team was 11th.

"I think making the team event is already a big achievement because being in the top 16 in the world is not easy," Costantini told Reuters.

“But for me it’s (the rankings) too close, like wearing clothes that are too tight. You’re not comfortable, you need to be comfortable to perform as required,” he said. “My goal is to not to fight at the last minute to make the top 16, but to be in the top 10, top eight, or even top four. To not even have the doubt whether India will play in the team events at the Olympics or not.”

One of India's leading prospects at the Olympics will be 2018 Commonwealth Games champion Manika Batra, who broke into the top 25 this year and achieved a career-high ranking of 24 after her victory at the Saudi Smash in May.

Batra (ranked 28) and Sreeja Akula (ranked 25), are among the women leading India’s charge up the rankings. “We have to be consistent in taking opportunities. We don’t want just sporadic occasional results that make us climb the world ranking. We need more stability,” Costantini said.