Ace paddler Sharath Kamal, who clinched a historic mixed doubles bronze with Manika Batra at the Asian Games last year, feels the road to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics seems difficult in the newly-introduced category, but once the spot is booked, a medal win was possible.

“I think mixed doubles is our biggest chance to have that medal . Firstly, me and Manika did well at the Games. I think more than the Olympic Games, the qualification to the Games is harder,” Sharath told a select group of reporters on Thursday.

“I say so as there are only 16 teams at the Olympic Games so that you start from the round of 16. If you win three matches, you have a medal. So, it’s only three matches there, but to get there – that’s the more difficult path,” Sharath pointed out.

“We are preparing for that. We are exclusively training for mixed doubles and trying to spend more time, because mixed doubles qualification will be through pro-2-tournaments this year. So it’s a ranking of a complete year and we need to perform consistently over the year,” he explained.

The Chennai-based paddler had also guided the men’s team to a historic bronze at the Asian Games with a shock win over Japan, ending a 60-year wait for a medal in table tennis.

Sharath and rising star Manika then clinched a surprise bronze in mixed doubles to cap off a dream run at Asian Games, raising hopes of even an Olympic medal.