Sathiyan, Batra unavailable for national camp?

New Delhi, June 7

The preparation of the Olympics-bound Indian table tennis contingent seems to be going nowhere, with leading players G Sathiyan and Manika Batra confirming their unavailability for the proposed training camp in Sonepat from June 20.

With the coronavirus-induced restrictions already affecting the players’ preparations for the July-August Tokyo Games, top players preferring to work with their individual coaches is also not helping the team’s cause.

Amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the four Tokyo-bound players — Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan, Batra and Sutirtha Mukherjee — have been restricted to individual training since qualifying in March. After not getting his Denmark visa for training, Sharath is looking forward to the national camp in Sonepat but his preparations would be incomplete if he is not able to train with mixed doubles partner Batra. India’s best shot at an Olympics medal is in the mixed doubles category. — PTI