G Sathiyan
Photo: pti
Expansion
India’s experienced players Achant Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan made a winning start at the World Table Tennis Championships. Commonwealth Games champion and world number 56 Sharath entered the round of last 64 with a 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6 win over 170th-ranked David Sarderoglu of Austria. At the same time, Gananashekaran Sathiyan, ranked 51st in the world, defeated England’s Tom Jarvis 4-3 (11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-2, 15-13, 13-11, 11-6). Did.
Both the men’s and women’s singles events at the World Table Tennis Championships will start from the Round of 128, while all three doubles events (men’s, women’s and mixed) will start from the Round of 64. Earlier on Saturday, the pair of Manush Shah and Harmeet Desai were defeated in their opening match. Sreeja Akula defeated Nicolae Arlia of Italy. The pair of Sharath and G Sathiyan will also compete in the men’s doubles.
In the women’s section, Manika Batra, ranked 39th in the world, is India’s top singles player. India has won only two medals in the World Table Tennis Championships. In the first edition in 1926, India’s men’s team won bronze and SRG Suppiah also won bronze in the men’s singles event.