Easy wins for Manika, Sharath at R64; Sathiya loses

Most of the Indian paddlers, including Manika Batra and Achanta Sharath Kamal, registered easy victories in the quarterfinals of the Asian WTTC continental stage at the Lusail Sports Complex in Doha on Sunday.

A total of five Indian women – Manika Batra, Reeth Tennison, Swastika Ghosh, Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale registered wins in women’s singles R64.

While Batra, Sreeja and Chitale won their match 4-0, the duo of Tennison and Ghosh won their contest by a margin of 4-1.

In men’s singles, Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, Manush Shah and Sanil Shetty all qualified for the next round.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost 2-4 to Quek Izaac of Singapore.

Asia’s WTTC Continental is the first tournament of the year and a qualifying tournament for the World Championships to be held later this year in May.