At 17, Syndrela Das is already learning to think beyond individual milestones.
Fresh from completing a double at the National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Kanpur, where she won both the Under-19 and women’s singles titles around her 17th birthday, the Indian table tennis player is now preparing for one of the biggest assignments of her young career – the Asian Games 2026.
Named in India’s table tennis squad for the continental showpiece in Aichi-Nagoya, Syndrela Das will be among the younger members of the Indian contingent. For her, however, the opportunity represents another step in a journey she has been carefully mapping out over the past year.
“It feels good that I have achieved so much at such a young age,” Syndrela told Olympics.com. “I feel very happy and I’m looking forward to playing over there.”
The Asian Games did not become a target overnight. Syndrela began setting herself incremental goals last year, starting with breaking into the senior Indian team before turning her attention towards tournaments and improving her position in the world rankings.
“Since last year, I’ve been setting small-term goals, and I’ve been preparing for this since last year because my goal was to get in the senior India team,” she said.
“After that, I planned about the tournaments and the ranking and everything, and then I started playing so many tournaments to improve my world ranking because only India rank is not important. The world rank is important as well.”
That approach has helped Syndrela climb to world No. 98.
“Getting selected in the Asian Games is also a very proud moment for me,” she said.
Her recent performances have only added to the momentum heading into Aichi-Nagoya.
Last month, Syndrela Das produced one of the biggest upsets in Ultimate Table Tennis, stunning world No. 52 and Indian stalwart Manika Batra in straight games (11-10, 11-9, 11-9).
At the National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Kanpur, held from August 16 to 23, Syndrela celebrated her birthday by completing a double, winning the Under-19 title as well as the women’s singles crown.
The Asian Games will not be the end of her year either. Syndrela also has her eyes set at the Youth Olympics 2026 in Dakar, Senegal, which comes to the teenager after Aichi-Nagoya.
Despite stepping onto an increasingly bigger stage, Syndrela sees her age as a source of excitement rather than pressure.
“I think excitement because there’s a long way for me to go, and this is just the starting,” she said.
“It’s good that I’m using my youth years and I will be more active and open to new ideas and new playing styles and everything, so I can grab it as fast as possible.”
Being younger than many of her opponents can have its advantages, although Syndrela does not expect anyone at the elite level to take her lightly.
“Nobody underestimates youngsters anymore, but, yeah, I would say it’s an advantage,” she said.
Her ambition stretches considerably further than Aichi-Nagoya. Syndrela has spoken about wanting to win an Olympic singles gold and also harbours another long-term target she had previously kept to herself – reaching world No. 1.
“I would say being world number one – that’s the dream I’ve never told anybody,” she said.
“I always keep on telling everyone that I want the medal in the Olympic Games, I want the gold medal in singles, but I’ve never told anyone that I want to be world number one and stay in the top for as many years as I play.”
For all those targets, Syndrela hopes the defining feature of her career will ultimately be something much simpler – her enjoyment of the sport.
“If I could describe myself in one sentence, I would say that ‘she actually loved table tennis,'” Syndrela said. “‘She used to play table tennis because she loved it. I had no pressure and I was very confident.’ That’s how I would describe myself.”
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/syndrela-das-table-tennis-asian-games-2026-india
