Kathmandu. South Asian table tennis selection for Paris Olympics 2024 will be held in Nepal.
From next July, the 33rd Summer Olympics will be held in the French city. For that, the selection phase of most of the games is going on. The South Asian qualifying tournament for table tennis will be held in Nepal from May 13 to 25. Apart from India and Bhutan, players from the South Asian countries of Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will compete in this selection tournament.
According to the organizer All Nepal Table Tennis Association, India will not participate in the selection as it is in the top eight of the world ranking. According to the tournament coordinator Tejendra Singh, the tournament will be held in knockout format.
Two men and two women from each country will compete in the qualifying tournament. Sanyog Kapali, Santu Shrestha, Navita Shrestha and Ivana Thapa will present the challenge from Nepal. According to the association, one male and one female athlete from the South Asian qualifiers will be eligible to play in the Olympics in Paris, France. For the first time, Nepal is going to organize the Olympic selection of table tennis. This qualifying tournament is being held at the National Table Tennis Training Center in Lanchaur. According to the organizers, about 10 lakh rupees will be spent for the competition.
Rajendra Kapali, head coach of table tennis, expressed his belief that India’s non-participation will benefit Nepal. According to him, not having India is the biggest opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. In addition, coach Kapali has also claimed that all four players from Nepal are candidates. However, he also said that there will be a tough competition with Sri Lanka. Kapali mentioned that Santu, who is currently in Australia, will arrive in Nepal in a few days. So far, only two players from Nepal have passed the qualifying stage and played in the Olympics.
Previously, Taekwondo’s Sangina Vaidya and Deepak Bishta had achieved this success. Recently, Para Taekwondo’s Palesha Govardhan is also playing in the Olympics after passing the qualifying stage. This opportunity has been received for the table tennis players of Nepal. Technicians will come from India to conduct the qualifying competition.