Ranked 16th in India's women and 175th in the world's women Swastika Ghosh is aware that she has the least chance of getting into the Indian women's table tennis team for the Paris Olympics this year. 

Still, the gold medalist paddler in the last National Games is the country's one of the most privileged paddlers to have been included in the Target Olympics Podium (TOPs) scheme. 

It has been learned that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has included a new aspect in its policy for the TOPs scheme that says, potential paddlers for the future of the Indian table can also be shortlisted in the scheme. 

One of the SAI executives as well as a senior executive from the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) revealed on condition of anonymity, "TOPs scheme does not only shortlist the names who are in contention to get into the Indian squad for Paris or the next Olympics. Those promising paddlers who have the potential to don India shirts in the future also can be selected for the TOPs scheme."

However, Swastika is presently in Japan on a 17-day exposure training at Qui Table Tennis School in Osaka under this scheme, and from Japan, she will be going to Germany to take part in the Bundesliga and also two international competitions. 

The paddler who was one of the members of the Indian mixed team for the Mixed World Cup table tennis championship, divulged while speaking from Osaka, “My performance in the national level this year has not been excellent so far. But I performed up to the mark in the international competitions, I played since the end of last year. I know it will be very difficult to get into the women’s team for the Olympics. Rather my aim will be to improve world ranking.” 

Swastika who has been training under Qiu Jian Xin said, "I express gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His wish letter is a big encouragement for me. Training in Japan and playing in the Bundesliga will help me to improve my game and fulfill my desire to deliver best in the forthcoming international competitions to improve ranking.”