Asian WTTC Continental | Indian paddlers register easy wins in first round
Indian table tennis stars Manika Batra and Sharath Kamal registered easy wins in the Round of 64 of the Asian WTTC Continental Stage at the Lusail Sports Complex in Doha on Sunday.
It was a great day in the office for women paddlers especially, as apart from Batra, the likes of Reeth Tennison, Swastika Ghosh, Sreeja Akula, and Diya Chitale, registered victories in singles R64.
While it was an easy outing for Batra, Sreeja, and Chitale, who won their respective matches 4-0, the duo of Tennison and Ghosh won their contest by the margin of 4-1. On the other hand, in the men's singles Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Manush Shah, and Sanil Shetty, all made an easy entry into the next round.
Unfortunately, the highest-ranked Indian in the singles, world no.39 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost 2-4 to a lower-ranked Quek Izaac of Singapore in a major upset. The Asian WTTC Continental happens to be the first tournament of the year, and also serves as the qualifying tournament for the World Championships to be held in May later this year.