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ITTF World Championships: Four Indians qualify for main draw
In men’s singles, Manav Thakkar made the cut after beating Leonardo Mutti of Italy 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-5 in the preliminary round.
Suthirta Mukherjee, Madhurika Patkar and Archana Kamath qualified for the women’s singles main draw of the ITTF World Championships in Budapest on Monday. They will be joining world No. 56 Manika Batra, who got a direct entry.
In men’s singles, Manav Thakkar made the cut after beating Leonardo Mutti of Italy 11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 6-11, 11-5 in the preliminary round.
After having won her first-round matches on Sunday, Madhurika defeated Catherine Spicer of Trinidad and Tobago 11-3, 11-8, 11-3, 11-6 on Monday. Suthirta got the better of Rachel Moret of Switzerland 14-12, 12-10, 11-8, 11-9 and teenage sensation Archana overcame Slovak’s Eva Odorova 4-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6, 11-5. All three players topped their respective groups.
Archana, who had a tough opening round and struggled to beat Ivana Petric of Montenegro 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5, was 0-2 down before stepping up to win the last four games.
In men’s singles qualifiers, Amalraj and Manav Thakkar topped their respective groups. Manav defeated Nicholas Tio of the US 11-6, 11-9, 13-11, 12-14, 11-3. Amalraj, who got a walkover from Kodjo Boccovi from Togo, beat Allan Gutierrez from Gautemala 11-6, 11-3, 11-6, 11-7. But he then lost to Tom Jarvis (3-4) 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-3 in the preliminary round to bow out. Manav will join G Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal in the main draw.
In men’s doubles, Sathiyan-Sharath and Manav-Amalraj have received direct entries. In women’s doubles, only the first Indian pair of Manika Batra and Archana has got direct entry. The second pair of Suthirta and Madhurika has to qualify against Lativa’s Sabina Musajeva and Inta Zdanovska.
