ASTANA, October 15 — The Indian table tennis contingent etched a historic milestone on Thursday by securing bronze medals across both Men's and Women's team events at the Asian Table Tennis Championships 2026 held in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The Indian men's squad, spearheaded by veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal alongside G. Sathiyan and Manav Thakkar, secured their podium finish by outlasting powerhouse Chinese Taipei 3-1 in a gripping quarterfinal clash. Concurrently, the women's trio of Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Diya Chitale scripted history by overcoming World No. 4 South Korea 3-2 to claim India's first-ever women's team medal in the continental championship's annals.
Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) celebrated the double-bronze achievement, underscoring that sustained high-performance foreign exposure and sports science backing under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) have successfully breached traditional East Asian dominance.
The administrative governance of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF, founded in 1926), the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), historical sports honors (Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards), and elite athletic funding frameworks form staple general knowledge questions in SSC, Railway, and State Police examinations.