New Delhi [India], August 21 : Former International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Youth World No. 1 (U-17) Payas Jain has expressed his aspiration to win a medal for India at the Olympics, aiming for a historic achievement in the sport.
The 2028 Summer Olympics are scheduled to be held from July 14 to 30 in the United States.
"My ultimate goal is to win a medal for India in the Olympics. And for that, I have small milestones, and I believe we can do it. India is doing great right now, so it is possible that in the next four to five years, India will be there," Jain said, while speaking to ANI.
Payas Jain said that table tennis in India has gained considerable popularity in recent years, crediting the success of Indian athletes on international stages for the growing interest in the sport.
Indian veteran paddler Sharath Kamal clinched a gold medal in the men's singles event at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.
Last year, India's three-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medalist Manika Batra scripted history at Saudi Smash as she became the first Indian singles player to reach the quarter-finals of a World Table Tennis (WTT) Grand Smash event - the sport's equivalent of tennis Grand Slams.
"I think now table tennis has become quite popular because of the medals we have won before. In the past few years, we have won Commonwealth gold medals. Manika has done a lot of things for our country as well as in Asian we have got a medal," Jain said.
However, the young paddler acknowledged that bringing table tennis to the popularity level of cricket in India would be challenging.
"But of course, to get to the cricket level, it's going to be a lot of difficulties and challenges because it is an established sport. But I think table tennis is doing pretty well," Jain concluded.
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