Asian Games 2014: India announce 10-member table tennis squad

New Delhi: A 10-member table tennis team spearheaded by Sharath Kamal will be representing India at the Incheon Asian Games beginning September 19.

The team was selected on the basis of the players' national and international ranking, besides keeping in mind the current form of the individual players after the Inter-Institutional championships held in New Delhi in the third week of August.

The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had sent the names to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) which, in turn, had recommended them to the sports ministry for clearance.

Though there were speculations about the teams clearance in the media, the TTFI was always sure of getting the sports ministry nod.

"We had projected a clear picture about why our paddlers should compete at the Asiad. Our paddlers had reached the quarterfinals at 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games as well as the Asian Championships, making them eligible for participation as per the sports ministry criteria," said TTFI secretary general Dhanraj Choudhary.

The paddlers will leave for the South Korean city on September 22 as the table tennis events begin from September 27.

It will be the last assignment for outgoing foreign coach Peter Engel, who took charge last October.

The teams: Men: A. Sharath Kamal, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai, Antony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty.

Women: Ankita Das, Madhurika Patkar, Poulomi Ghatak, Manika Batra and Neha Aggarwal.

Coaches: Peter Engel and Bhawani Mukherjee.