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Xtra Time Web Desk: With just 10 days to go before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, widely acclaimed TT commentator in the world and also known as ‘The Voice of Table Tennis’ Adam Bobrow has picked India’s Manika Batra among the 10 prospective paddlers who has a great chance to win a medal at Tokyo. The Tokyo Games will feature 339 events in 33 different sports and a total of 50 disciplines.

China has been the most dominant country when it comes to TT, however the upcoming Tokyo Olympic could bring surprise for the fans with paddlers from other parts of the world making notable performances. According to Adam, Mima Ito of Japan will be the frontrunner for gold. At only 20, Mima is not only the youngest in the Japanese Olympic team but by far the greatest threat to the Chinese dominance.

Bobrow has picked Mima’s compatriot Tomokazu Harimoto to be a big candidate to win gold in men’s singles. The Japanese sensation has already been considered to be G.O.A.T and has defeated Olympic champion and TT great Ma Long even before turning 15.

Adam has also picked Puetro Rico’s Adriana Diaz (women), Liam Pitchford of England (men), Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna (men), Han Ying of Germany (women), Lin Yun Ju (men) from Chinese Taipei, Lly Zhang (USA), Hugo Calderano (Brazil) and India’s Manika Batra.

According to Adam Bobrow, “Manika has been getting noticed for years with her very unusual style of play. In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, she pulled off a massive upset over a world champion Feng Tianwei and that too twice. Manika’s rare combination of near the table defense and offense can surprise opponents and may lead to some shocking results once again in Tokyo.”

Manika will also be pairing with India’s experienced campaigner Achanta Sharath Kamal in the first-ever mixed doubles event at the Olympics, and they have already shown to be a very capable pair to take down big names.