Kanak Jha Secures Spot on U.S. Olympic Team for Paris 2024

by USA Table Tennis

Kanak Jha (USA) qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympics in Table Tennis – Men's Singles. Villa Deportiva Nacional, Lima, Peru, May 18, 2024. ©ITTF Americas

Kanak Jha (USA) qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympics in Table Tennis – Men's Singles. Villa Deportiva Nacional, Lima, Peru, May 18, 2024. ©ITTF Americas

Lima, Peru – May 18, 2024 – USA Table Tennis (USATT) congratulates Kanak Jha on qualifying for his third consecutive Olympic Games at the ITTF Americas Olympic Qualification Event in Lima, Peru. The 23-year-old fought hard on the last day of competition to earn the final ticket to Paris with a tense match over Horacio Cifuentes (Argentina) 4-1 (11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9). Paris 2024 will be Jha’s third appearance at the Olympic Games, having competed at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.


“Rio and Tokyo gave me valuable experience heading into Paris. I will carry all the energy of the people supporting me as I try to achieve my dreams in Paris.”


At the 2016 Rio games, Jha was the youngest table tennis competitor at only 16. At Tokyo 2020, the now veteran of the team, had impressive wins over table tennis greats such as Mattias Falk (Sweden). More achievements followed, as Jha hit new highs in his career in the years to follow.


“I’ve achieved a lot since Tokyo 2020, including going to the World championship Quarterfinals and being among the top 20 in the world. I’ve proven I’m capable of competing with anybody in the world and hope to make history for USA and take our first medal in table tennis.”


USA Table Tennis cannot wait to cheer on Kanak Jha as he takes the largest stage at the Olympics in Paris this summer. Jha will be competing in the men’s singles event which begins on July 27th.