National Games: Sathiyan, Manika seeded No. 1 in men’s and women’s TT singles

G. Sathiyan of Tamil Nadu and Manika Batra of Delhi were seeded No.1 in the men’s and women’s singles table tennis event of the 36th National Games which will commence here on Thursday.

In the open draw held on Tuesday at the venue, Sathiyan and Manika (in pic) got the jury’s nod, pushing the reigning National champions A. Sharath Kamal and Sreeja Akula to the second spot. | Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR / The Hindu

G. Sathiyan of Tamil Nadu and Manika Batra of Delhi were seeded No.1 in the men’s and women’s singles table tennis event of the 36th National Games which will commence here on Thursday.

In the open draw held on Tuesday at the venue, Sathiyan and Manika got the jury’s nod, pushing the reigning National champions A. Sharath Kamal and Akula Sreeja to the second spot.

Sharath, who went on to win four medals, including three gold, at the recent Birmingham Commonwealth Games, found himself pushed a rung below because of his world ranking at No. 43. On the other hand, Sathiyan (No. 37) is the top-ranked Indian in the world.

Manika, too, benefited from the same rule as the Delhi paddler is at No. 45, while Sreeja is at No. 77.

The jury, comprising T. G. Upadhya, A. S. Kler and Anil Dubey, put National rankings ahead of world rankings for seeding purposes.

The top-eight seeds

Men: G. Sathiyan, A. Sharath Kamal (both TN), Sanil Shetty (Mah), Harmeet Desai (Guj), Anirban Ghosh (WB), Manush Shah (Guj), Soumyajit Ghosh (Har), and Manav Thakkar (Guj). Women: Manika Batra (Del), Sreeja Akula (TS), Diya Chitale (Mah), Reeth Rishya (Mah).