World Team TT Championships: Women paddlers reach main draw

The Indian women’s team sailed into the main draw of the table tennis World Championships after topping Group G with a 3-0 win over Croatia at Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

In their final Second Division group match, Manika Batra led off with a 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6 win over Lea Rakova to set the tone.

Mouma Das then consolidated the lead beating Yuan Tian 13-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-2 and in the third singles, K. Shamini downed Ivana Tubikanec 14-12, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3.

On Tuesday, the women’s team received a walkover from Nigeria.

The men’s team rebounded from losing to Nigeria in Group F on Tuesday with a 3-0 verdict over Switzerland.

Soumyajit Ghosh beat Elia Schmid 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, Achanta Sharath Kamal defeated Lionel Webber 11-7, 11-7, 11-7 and G. Sathiyan saw off Nicolas Champod, also in straight games.

They next play the Slovak Republic to complete their group engagements.

As it stands, Nigeria are in the lead with eight while India are just behind on seven points.