Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships | India placed in Group B
Hosts India have been placed in Group B for both Men’s and Women’s events at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships starting from today in Cuttack. Singapore and Scotland are the two teams in the Men’s category in the group, while Sri Lanka, Wales and South Africa are in the Women’s category.
Favourites to win the title in Men’s team event, the Indian unit which includes Achanta Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan will be up against Singapore and Scotland in the group stage at Cuttack’s Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium. The tournament will begin on Wednesday and is one of the prestigious events in world table tennis. India is ranked at no.11, while Singapore and Scotland are on 61st and 91st positions respectively.Â
The female paddlers, who will be led by Manika Batra, will have to face South Africa, Wales and Sri Lanka in Group B with an aim of making it to the knockout stage of the tournament. Batra is the only Indian paddler in the Top 100 list of female players in the world at the moment.
On Monday, Pakistan, Ghana and Guyana had pulled out of the competition. Pakistan had visa issues, while Ghana and Guyana were not able to get government clearance. This is also the primary reason why the number of teams has come down to 12 from 17.
Men
Group A: England, Sri Lanka, Cyprus
Group B: India, Singapore, Scotland
Group C: Nigeria, Malaysia, Bangladesh
Group D: Australia, South Africa, Wales
Women
Group A: Singapore, Wales, Scotland
Group B: India, South Africa, Wales, Sri Lanka
Group C: Australia, Malaysia, Cyprus
Group D: Nigeria, England, BangladeshÂ