Two of the three players selected for the Indian men’s table tennis team at the Paris Olympic Games 2024, Harmeet Desai (30) and Manav Thakkar (24), are residents of Surat. They would be led by Achanta Sharath Kamal from Tamil Nadu, who is playing his fifth Olympic Games, at Paris in July and August.
Harmeet is currently at Cappadocia in Turkey, playing the WTT (World Table Tennis) Feeder Series with his wife Krittwika Sinha Roy, a professional table tennis player. While his elder brother Hriday Desai is also an Indian table tennis player, his parents Rajul and Archana run a school in Surat.
Harmeet, a sociology graduate from VNSGU, started playing table tennis at the age of six, said his mother Archana. “When he was 8 years old, he won a gold medal in an under 10 national-level tournament… there was no looking back,” she said, adding that he will make the country proud in the Olympic Games.
A fan of actor Shah Rukh Khan, Harmeet never misses a practice session, said Archana. “He practices daily for 7 to 8 hours,” said Hriday.
Harmeet followed up his two medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a team bronze in the 2018 Asian Games with two golds at the 2019 Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships in 2019. He became the Men’s Singles national champion in 2019 and also received the Arjuna Award the same year.
Manav Thakker, who has won medals at the state and national levels, is the son of two doctors – ophthalmologist Vikas Thakker and Ayurvedic doctor Kalpana Thakker. Manav said he also started training when he was only six year old. “Now my eye is on winning medals at the Olympic Games… I am training under French coach Julien Girard…”
Manav, who said he has played 537 tournaments and won 356 games, attributed his success to his parents and coaches. “They played a major role in me being selected to the Olympics team,” he added.
His father said, “Manav was interested in table tennis since his childhood… so we let him pursue his dream. We are overwhelmed that he has been selected in the Indian team.”
