On a day when India got a bagful of medals, Sharath Kamal and company kept the country’s hopes alive in table tennis as the men’s and women’s team paddlers won their respective preliminary round matches in the 17th Asian Games, in Incheon on Saturday.
Up against Kuwait in the Suwon Gymnasium, the Indian men’s team blanked the West Asian nation 3-0 in a Group B match.
Soumyajit Ghosh started on an auspicious note as the Siliguri-born player won a tricky battle against Albahrani Husain 11-1 11-5 5-11 11-6 in 17 minutes.
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Star paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal was next and the three-times Commonwealth Games champion was quick to dispatch Albalhan Jaber 11-5 12-10 11-5 in just 15 minutes.
Riding the 2-0 lead, Amalraj Arputharaj Anthony, who won a doubles silver in the Glasgow CWG this year with Sharath Kamal, made no mistake against Alanssari Basel as he took the team to a 3-0 triumph with a 11-5 11-8 11-2 victory in 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s team turned lucky in a Group A game when they got a walkover against Nepal.
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The Indian women’s teams also did not falter against Malaysia and Nepal in their respective group matches.
In a Preliminary Round Group A Division 4 game, the women’s team comprising Manika Batra, Madhurika Suhas Patkar and Ankita Das beat Nepal 3-0.
Manika outplayed Shrestha Nabita 11-8 11-5 11-2, while Madhurika thrashed Kajol Rauniyar 11-5 11-1 11-5 in just 11 minutes.
Ankita had her task cut out when she came in last but was clinical in her win against Elina Maharjan 11-6 11-5 11-2.
The preliminary round Group A Division 2 match was no different as West Bengal star Poulomi Ghatak battled past Lee Wei Beh of Malaysia 11-9 15-17 11-8 11-5 in just about half-an-hour’s time.
Manika then had it a little easy against Ying Ho as the Delhi girl won the second match 11-5 11-8 11-7 in 18 minutes.
In the end, the much-fancied Neha Aggarwal, the only Indian women’s paddler to compete in the Olympics way back 2008, did not disappoint as she won 11-6 11-6 11-4 against Lee Rou You.