Indians paddlers gear up for individual events

With the gold medal eluding them in the team event, Indian paddlers, led by defending champion Achanta Sharath Kamal, will be eyeing to better their performance in the individual competitions of the Commonwealth Games, which begins in New Delhi on Monday.

The Indian men's team had to be content with a bronze, while their women counterparts, who went down to Singapore in the final, could lay hands on the silver medal in the team events of table tennis.

By his own standards Sharath himself would be a disappointed man as the world ranked 40th paddler failed to earn the golden glory for the country in the team event, and this time he would be desperate to fetch defends his singles title at the table tennis venue inside the Yamuna Sports Complex.

Although Sharath has already exuded confidence about retaining the crown, his biggest hurdle would be world number 17, Gao Ning of Singapore, who has beaten the Indian a number of times and did not participate in the Melbourne Games four years ago.

"We expect some good performance from Sharath. A lot of things depends on him. I hope we will see some upsets in the men's section by other players also," India coach Bhawani Mukherjee said.

All the five Indian men have got direct entry to the main draw of the Delhi Games.

A Amalraj and Bengal paddler Soumyadeep Roy are in good touch, while former national champion Subhajit Saha has also recovered from an injury to secure a berth in the Games squad and their contribution is going to play a crucial role if the hosts were to improve upon their three medals in Melbourne Games.

"Now the singles and doubles events are coming. That will be totally a different game and we are eyeing to produce some good performance there," Amalraj said.

Women's silver medal-winning performance in the team has fuelled people's expectation but with a number of Singaporean paddlers in the main draw, it seems unlikely that Indian eves will go far in the individual category.

Kumaresan Shamini and reigning national champion Poulomi Ghatak have performed well in the team event but they now have to think differently for the singles as well as doubles events.

"There are five Singapore players and if we have to play them in the first round, it would be difficult for us. A lot depends on the draw," Mukherjee said.

Mouma Das and Madhurika Patkar have directly entered the main draw while the rest -- Poulomi, Shamini and Mamta Prabhu -- had to get their tickets through qualifying rounds.

In the mixed doubles, Poulomi will share the table with fiance Soumyadeep Roy, and the duo will leave no stone unturned in their quest to make the Delhi Games memorable by laying their hands on the yellow metal together.

"I am playing mixed doubles with my would-be husband and if we can win medal here in front of the home crowd it would be a memorable achievement," Poulomi said.

"He (Soumyadeep) is my mentor. He tells me what to do and what is the right way to practice. I also listen to him," she added.