Top-ranked Indian paddler G Sathiyan was knocked out of the WTT Contender Muscat tournament, going down tamely to 16-year-old Lin Shidong of China in the men’s singles round of 32 match on Thursday.
However, two Indian pairs -- Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee, and Sreeja Akula and Selenadeepthi Selvakumar entered the medal round in women’s doubles.
World No. 32 Sathiyan, who had earned a direct entry into the main draw, lost 8-11, 13-11, 2-11, 8-11 in a lop-sided contest.
In women’s doubles, Sutirtha and Ayhika got a walkover from the Czech pair of Zdena Blaskova and Katerina Tomanovsk, while Sreeja and Selenadeepthi defeated Singapore's Goi Rui Xuan and Won Xin Ru 13-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7.
In women’s singles, Manika Batra and Archana Kamath progressed to the round of 16, beating their rivals Lin Ye of Singapore and Mo Zhang of Canada, respectively.
Manika beat Lin 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 and will take on Romanian Bernadette Szocs, who is ranked No. 23 in the world, later in the day. Manika, ranked 49, has a distinct advantage over her opponent with a 3-2 win-loss record.
Archana, who dropped the second game after deuce, beat the Canadian 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9. She will be up against Mongolia’s Xiaoxin Yang in the pre-quarters.
However, Sreeja Akula tasted defeat against Jia Nan Yuan of France 8-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11 in a thriller.
In mixed doubles, Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath entered the quarterfinals after beating Abdullah Yigenler and Ozge Yilmaz of Turkey 11-9, 14-12, 11-2.
Sathiyan and Manika also advanced without breaking any sweat after the Russian pair of Kirill Skachkov and Olga Vorobeva was denied participation.
On Wednesday, the ITTF had announced its decision to temporarily suspend players from Belarus and Russia, following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.
(Reported by PTI)
