Indian paddlers Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath pulled off stunning victories to reach the women's singles pre-quarterfinals of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Star Contender Goa 2024 on Saturday. (Streaming | More Table Tennis News)
Star Indian paddler Batra, who's ranked 38 in the world, looked in complete control of the match from the start as she won the contest 3-1 (11-6 9-11 11-9 11-7) comfortably against South Korea's Suh Hyo Won.
The 25-year-old from Hyderabad, Akula also continued her brilliant form and showcased sublime shots on both sides of the table to shock world No. 30 Hana Goda of Egypt 3-0 (11-8 11-6 14-12) in straight games to progress further in the tournament.
Earlier, Kamath registered a thrilling win over Portugal's world No. 53 Jieni Shao.
The 23-year-old from Bengaluru, who is currently ranked 134 in the world, had a slow start to the round-of-32 match as she lost the first game against the higher-ranked and experienced opponent Jieni.
However, Kamath made a remarkable comeback, winning the next two games before clinching the match 3-2 (9-11 11-5 11-5 8-11 11-5).
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On the other hand, Yashaswini Ghorpade faced a 0-3 (1-11 5-11 5-11) defeat to world No. 13 Monaco's Xiaoxin Yang in the women's singles last-32 match.
The tournament is co-hosted by Stupa Sports Analytics and Ultimate Table Tennis under the guidance of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
The top-2 seeds in the men's singles category, world No. 7 Hugo Calderano and world No. 8 France's Felix Lebrun lived up to the expectations and progressed into the round-of-16 with comfortable wins over Kang Dongsoo (11-8 11-8 11-3) and Park Gyuhyeon (11-6 13-11 18-16) respectively.
France's Prithika Pavade registered a come-from-behind 3-2 win (9-11 9-11 12-10 11-7 11-3) against Ryu Hanna in the round-of-32 of the women's singles category, while world No. 8 Shin Yubin of South Korea defeated compatriot Choi Hyojoo 3-2 (11-5 7-11 12-10 3-11 11-4) in a thriller.
Meanwhile, the Indian pair of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah exited the tournament after facing a 1-3 (7-11 11-7 8-11 9-11) defeat against Kao Cheng-jui and Chuang Chih-yuan of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals of the men's doubles category.
In the last-8 of the women's doubles category, South Korea's Shin Yubin and Eon Jihee beat Sayali Wani and Taneesha Kotecha 3-0 (11-2 12-10 11-2) whereas the pair of Diya Chitale and Akula faced a 0-3 (9-11 8-11 8-11) defeat against Cheng I-ching and Li Yu-jhun of Chinese Taipei.
Manush and Diya fought hard in the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles category before going down 2-3 (5-11 11-6 14-12 8-11 6-11) to the Spanish pair of Alvaro Robles and Maria Xiao.
The semi-finals and finals are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
