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Ahead of Paris, Ayhika hopes for a TOPS boost
She is the only member from India’s contingent at the team Worlds in Busan that isn’t part of the TOPS core or development list
Asian Games doubles bronze medallist paddler Ayhika Mukherjee, who played a key role at the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships and stands a bright chance of making the Paris Olympics in the women's team event, hopes to soon find a place in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), from which she continues to remain missing.
Ayhika is the only member from India’s contingent at the team Worlds in Busan — both men’s and women’s teams made the Round of 16 that paved the way for the teams’ first ever Olympics qualification through the world rankings — that isn’t part of the TOPS core or development list. Which, given her performance in the tournament (she won four of her six singles matches including against world No. 1 Chinese Sun Yingsha) apart from a few other noteworthy outcomes over the last few months, makes it even more glaring.
The TOPS core list includes three table tennis players (Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan and Manika Batra) while the development list has eight. Among them are five women: Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath, Diya Chitale, Swastika Ghosh and Yashaswini Ghorpade. Ghosh and Ghorpade were not part of the five-member women's team at the Worlds.
“The Paris Olympics is not too far away and I have a good chance to be a part of the team. I wish and would request TOPS to consider including me in the list," Ayhika said. “Especially keeping in mind my recent performance over the last few months, my national ranking and improved international results.”
Ranked No. 2 in singles in the domestic rankings, Ayhika has delivered some positive results at the international level over the last few months. At the team Worlds in February, she was a central figure in the Indian women team’s encouraging and Olympics-sealing run, defeating a few higher-ranked players with her deceptive play topped by the stunning victory over Sun. Partnering Sutirtha Mukherjee — who also isn't part of TOPS and wasn’t picked for the team Worlds — Ayhika bagged a historic bronze in doubles at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games, the first by an Indian table tennis pair at the prestigious continental event.
While the teams for the Paris Games in July-August are yet to be announced, Ayhika stands a good chance of getting picked in the three-member squad given her recent singles upswing and doubles pedigree (unlike at the team Worlds, team events at the Olympics will also feature one doubles match to go with the four singles contests).
“I believe the kind of performances she has given over the last 6-7 months, it is high time that she gets included in TOPS," said Soumyadeep Roy, who coaches both Ayhika and Sutirtha. “Especially the way Ayhika performed in the Worlds, she was of the main architects of the team that did so well overall. I believe both Ayhika and Sutirtha deserve the support to continue their good work.”
Like Sutirtha, Ayhika was part of TOPS a couple of years ago but has since been dropped. TOPS, which funds its athletes' training, competition, equipment and coaching expenses besides providing a monthly stipend, periodically reviews its lists.
Without support from that end, Ayhika is largely left to fend on her own. She received financial help from a private sponsor (the Dhanuka Dhunseri group, which also supports the Soumyadeep Poulomi TT Academy where the Mukherjees train) over the last few months, but Roy said it can only play a limited role in helping her compete in as many events as possible in the current “expensive” WTT circuit.
Ayhika’s participation in international tournaments has ramped up since the Asian Games feat. This year apart from the team Worlds, Ayhika has competed in tournaments in Doha, Goa and Beirut, where she beat Sreeja to reach the singles quarter-finals in a WTT Feeder tournament. At the WTT Doha Contender, she and Sutirtha, the world No. 14 pair in doubles, made the doubles semi-final.
“It's a bit challenging at times when it comes to funding since I travel a lot more for tournaments now. I need to keep playing a lot of international tournaments to better my world ranking,” Ayhika, currently world No. 135 in singles, said. “Recently one foundation decided to support me, but I think I need more support for my international travel and other things, for which TOPS is very important.”
