New Delhi, August 26: Emerging Indian table tennis players Cinderella Das and Piyush Jain have been included in the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Development Program. This initiative strengthens the country’s focus on preparing young talents for the 2026 Asian Games, the 2030 Commonwealth Games, and the 2036 Olympics.
Seventeen-year-old Cinderella, hailing from Kolkata, secured her spot in the program due to her impressive performances on the international stage. Earlier this year, she won a silver medal in the girls’ doubles event and a bronze in the girls’ singles competition at the Asian Youth Championships held in Thailand.
Cinderella had a successful 2023 season, clinching national ranking titles in the under-15, under-17, and under-19 singles categories. Following this, she stepped into the senior national circuit. Earlier this year, TOPS established a special group for young table tennis players aged 14-17 to enhance India’s bench strength for the Commonwealth Games 2030 and the 2036 Olympics.
Cinderella was part of this group and has now been included in the TOPS Development Scheme based on her recent performances. She joins fellow Indian table tennis players Piyush Jain and Ankur Bhattacharjee in this initiative. Piyush and Ankur will also form a men’s doubles pair for India.
Cinderella has also been selected for India’s 10-member team for the 2026 Asian Games. The women’s team includes Shreeja Akula, Diya Chitale, Yashasvi Ghorpade, Sutirtha Mukherjee, and Cinderella herself. The men’s team features Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manush Shah, Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai, and Piyush Jain. Meanwhile, India’s top-ranked table tennis player, Manika Batra, has received financial support from the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) to participate in the WTT Contender tournaments in Bulgaria and Kazakhstan this September.
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