2021 WTT Contender Lasko | Gnanasekaran Sathiyan and Manika Batra progress to second round

India’s Sreeja Akula entered for the main draw of the 2021 WTT Contender Lasko after winning the fourth round of the qualifiers, on Thursday. However, players like Krittwika Roy, Anthony Amalraj and Manav Thakkar failed to make it through, after a loss in the last qualifying round.

In the first round of the men’s singles event, India’s Gnanasekaran Sathiyan scripted a convincing win over Ecuador’s Alberto Mino, by a margin of 3-1 (11-8, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9). 

Meanwhile, Manika Batra also reigned supreme over Slovakia’s Tatiana Kukulkova, with scores of 3-2 (11-8, 11-4, 15-17, 6-11, 15-13). Even though Manika won the first two games, she somehow lost track and lost the next two. But, she held her nerves and eventually claimed the last game to seal the deal. 

The men’s doubles pair of Manav Thakkar and Sharath Kamal lost to France’s Vincent Picard and Bastien Rembert convincingly, with scores of 0-3 (8-11, 6-11, 8-11). On the other hand, Snehit Suravajjula and Jeet Chandra were also knocked out by Belgium’s Robin Devos and Florent Lambiet 1-3 (4-11, 11-8, 4-11, 8-11).

Manika Batra and Gnanasekaran Sathiyan will team up in the mixed doubles event later on, while Sharath Kamal, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath will feature in their respective singles fixtures.