Indian American table tennis player Kanak Jha has scripted history after he reached the round of 16 at the ongoing Olympic games in Paris. This is the best performance for an American male athlete in the sport.
Jha bettered Jimmy Butler’s record, had reached the round of 32 at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Jha beat Panagiotis Gionis of Greece 4-2 on Wednesday.
“We’re just taking one match at a time, and not thinking about the first ever or whatever,” U.S. men’s team coach Mark Hazinski was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
The Indian American’s run, however, ended the following day as he lost 4-0 to China’s Fan Zhendong.
Jha, 24, is the 120th ranked player in the world. As per reports, he prepared for the Paris Olympic games with help from GoFundMe.
