Coming across a sea of casino hoardings at every nook and corner of Goa, the tourist paradise, is not surprising. What stands out is the substantial presence of hoardings of the WTT Star Contender Goa 2023.
Considering the magnitude of the event - the most high-profile table tennis event to be hosted in India - it wasn’t a surprise that the tiny state machinery was making all the effort to attract the Goans to the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium.
No doubt the legendary Ma Long along with five other Chinese counterparts pulled out hours before the tournament began on Monday. Still, six of the top-10 men in the world - led by World No. 1 Fan Zhendong who returns to India after almost six years - and five of the top-10 women in the rankings list will lead the pack that will vie for crucial ranking points and a hefty prize money.
Veteran A. Sharath Kamal (World No. 49), seasoned G. Sathiyan (41) and lanky Manika Batra (World No. 34) will hope to spring a few surprises in the singles. Besides Manika, Sreeja Akula (82) and promising Suhana Saini (253, wild card) will also hope to impress in the women’s main draw, beginning on Wednesday.
Just like Suhana, Payas Jain (184) and Wesley Do Rosario have also received wild card entry in the men’s singles main draw.
Tuesday saw four more Indians - Harmeet Desai and Manush Shah in men’s and Sutirtha Mukherjee and Yashaswini Ghorpade - entering the main draw with impressive wins in the last round of qualification.
While Harmeet overcame Hoacio Cifuentes in a nail-biting affair, southpaw Manush edged past Jeet Chandra in an all-Indian affair that was also stretched in the decider.
Ghorpade emerged as the star of the day as she stormed into the main draw in her maiden Star Contender appearance. She defeated World No. 104 Kim Nayeong (Korea) 11-6, 1-11, 5-11, 11-5, 11-7 in the third qualification event.
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