"This is very important for me, my first ever Games. I want to put out a performance that no other paddler has done before. I want people to remember me with my performance at the Olympics," said Ankita, who along with Soumyajit and coach Leszek Kucharski are traveling to China later tonight for an 18-day long camp at Zhengding.
Both the youngsters know that they don't stand a realistic chance in their first Olympic appearance, but they are motivated enough to give it their best.
"I never expected that I would qualify for the Olympics, it was a distant dream...I was expecting that may be in 2016 I stand a chance, it is still hard to believe that I have made it to the Olympics," said Soumyajit, who beat compatriot Anthony Amalraj in the Asian Championship early in April this year to qualify for the Games through a South Asian quota.
"We know it is not going to be an easy task, there is not much pressure on us either, we just want to be there and play to the best of our potential, irrespective of who the opponent might be," the 19-year-old added.
Both the paddlers, however, said that they would prefer an European opponent rather than competing against an Asian counterpart.
"I have been training in Sweden, so I have the knowledge about how the Europeans play...They are beatable, but the Chinese, the Koreans, they go out on attack from the word go which at times makes things a bit difficult," Soumyajit said. SNK
