India’s women’s table tennis players collectively had one of their best days in the WTT circuit as three singles players advanced to the round of 16 at the WTT Star Contender in Goa.
World number 134 Archana Kamath kickstarted things in the afternoon with her second straight win over a player ranked in the top 60, beating two time European medallist Jieni Xiao who has a world rank of 53, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5. That upset was followed by an even bigger one in the evening as former national champion Sreeja Akula beat Africa’s top table tennis player, the world number 30 Hana Goda to win in straight games 11-8, 11-6, 14-12.
The leader of the Indian pack, Manika Batra put a stamp on the Indian performance beating a very defensive Hyu Won Suh of South Korea 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7.
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“I think it’s been a collectively great performance by our women’s singles players. Archana has won two big matches in a row and Sreeja is coming back from a title win (The WTT Feeder in Corpus Christi last week). I think it’s a good very good result for Indian table tennis. It’s a sign that we are getting much stronger at the world level,” Batra would say after her win.
Sreeja’s win was particularly satisfying since it stopped a 0-2 skid for the Indian against the 16-year-old from Egypt who is counted as one of the top prospects in the world.
“In both my previous matches I’d lost in three games. I even lost to her at the WTT Star Contender in Goa. But my confidence was good coming from WTT Feeder in Corpus Christi. In the past I had allowed her to attack and got passive. That’s how I lost. This time I made the plan to recieve well so that I could attack the next ball,” she said.
The win under her belt, Sreeja has another difficult match against Hong Kong Olympic bronze medallist Doo Hoi Kem, but she says she’s up for the challenge. “I’m not even looking at who my next opponent is or what her rank is. I’m just trying to prepare well and play my best game,” she says.
Result:
Men’s singles: Dmitrij Ovtcharov (Ger) bt Snehit Suravajjula 11-6, 11-3, 11-3; Hugo Calderano (Bra) bt Dongsoo Kang (Kor) 11-8, 11-8, 11-3
Women’s singles: Manika Batra bt Hyo Won Suh (Kor) 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7; Archana Kamath bt Jieni Xiao (Por) 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5; Sreeja Akula beat Hana Goda (Egy) 11-8, 11-6. 14-12; Xiaoxin Yang (SIN) bt Yashasvi Ghorpade 11-1, 11-5, 11-5
Women’s Doubles: Jeon Jihee & Shin Yubin (Kor) bt Tanya Kotecha & Sayali Wani 11-2, 12-10, 11-2; Cheng I-Ching & Li Yu-Jhun (Tpe) bt Sreeja Akula & Diya Chitale 11-9, 11-8, 11-8
Mixed doubles: Wong Chun Ting & Kem Hoi Doo (Tpe) bt Manav Thakkar & Archana Kamath 11-2, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5; Alvaro Robles & Maria Xiao (Esp) bt Manush Shah & Diya Chitale 5-11, 11-6 , 12-14, 11-8, 11-6
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