Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday that they have set an ambitious yet achievable goal of India finishing in the top 10 countries in the Olympic 2028 medal tally. To make that a possibility, the Indian government has apparently already started with the talent scouting for the showpiece event.

Rijiju mentioned that the government will form specialised talent scouting squads consisting of several veteran players and athletes, present and retired coaches who will tour every part of the country to take note of potential talent at a young age.

“We have set ourselves a goal of having India in the top 10 countries in the Olympic 2028 medal tally. It is an ambitious goal, but not impossible,” Rijiju said.

“We have already started scouting for young talent and after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, the government will form specialised squads for each sporting discipline consisting of present and veteran coaches and athletes.

“These teams will travel to every district of the country to scout for raw talent. We still have 8 years to prepare for 2028 and I am confident with the correct policies, India can feature in the list of Top 10 countries,” he added.

Rijiju made these statements while speaking on an online knowledge enhancement session of the table tennis coaches.

Celebrated table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta who is also secretary of the Table tennis federation of India MP Singh, and conducted by eminent Table Tennis coach Massimo Constantini from his home in Italy.

Massimo, who has been India’s national coach, is often credited for the increasing number of medals that the country has been winning especially in the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as the Asian Games.

“2018 was a landmark year for table tennis in India because by winning the two bronze medals in the Asian Games we proved that our level has improved significantly.

“The strongest table-tennis playing countries participate in the Asian Games and if we could clinch medals there, we can even win medals in the Olympics,” said the Sports Minister.

“Table Tennis needs very limited infrastructure and it can be played by youngsters in any part of the country. I really see a lot of potential in this sport and government policies are being framed to create more infrastructure and training facilities for table tennis at the district, state and national level.

“I will also personally visit some good academies and urge them to include table tennis training. Given the standard of the game in India right now, I feel that by 2028, we should be able to clinch some medals in TT at the Olympics,” he said.

Rijiju also explained the importance of organising more and more table tennis league at the district, state and national levels.

“I attended the Ultimate Table Tennis league last year and feel that leagues of this kind can help to make the sport popular and also commercialise it,” he said.

“It is important for corporates to show interest in creating such leagues in table tennis and in all sports so that with corporate funding and government patronage, the sporting ecosystem in the country becomes more robust,” he added.