A 19-member Indian contingent, comprising 10 players, three coaches, three support staff, and three sparring partners, are representing the country at the prestigious global event, with leading names such as Manika Batra, Gnanasekaran Sathiyan, Manav Thakkar, and Harmeet Desai spearheading the challenge across men\u2019s and women\u2019s competitions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Indian men\u2019s team is drawn alongside Slovakia, Tunisia, and Guatemala, while the women\u2019s team will take on Ukraine, Uganda, and Rwanda in the group stages. The group stage matches are scheduled between April 28 and May 1. The Indian teams will be looking to go further this time around; both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams advanced to the knockout stages but exited in the Round of 32 in the 2024 edition of the competition in Busan.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Table Tennis will not feature in the Commonwealth Games 2026, but the WTTC London will provide a good litmus test ahead of the Asian Games 2026 in Japan, and also determine India\u2019s preparation and bench strength as the games set to return at the centenary Commonwealth Games 2030 in Bharat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the lead-up to the 2026 World Team Table Tennis Championships, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) sanctioned a series of preparatory camps to fine-tune the team\u2019s performance. A national coaching camp was held at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports Centre in Bengaluru from April 13 to 19 at a cost of \u20b913.26 lakh, followed by an overseas training stint in Sheffield from April 21 to 26, backed with \u20b920.92 lakh. This phased preparation, combining domestic conditioning with international exposure, was done with the aim of sharpening match readiness and adapting Massimo Constantini\u2019s players to the European playing conditions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
SAI also released a total fund of approximately \u20b960.1 lakh to the Table Tennis Federation of India to ensure the team\u2019s participation, including airfare, boarding and lodging, out-of-pocket allowances and entry fees, for our athletes and officials in the event. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Indian Teams for ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Men\u2019s team: Manav Thakkar, Manush Shah, G Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, Payas Jain <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Indian Teams for ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2026:<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Coaches: Massimo Costantini (Foreign Expert), Sourav Chakraborty, Somnath Ghosh<\/p>\r\n\r\n