Goa: Indian paddlers Sreeja Akula, Archana Kamath and Manika Batra scored wins over their respective opponents on Friday and advanced into the round of 16 in the ongoing WTT Star Contender.
Archana Kamath and Sreeja Akula shone with their performance as they scripted upsets to progress in the competition. World rank 134, Kamath outplayed world number 53 by 3-2 (9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 8-11, 11-5). Also, world number 66, Sreeja Akula shocked 30th-ranked Hana Goda of Egypt in three straight sets by 11-8, 11-6, 14-12.
Manika Batra triumphed in her match against 57th-ranked Suh Hyo-won of the Republic of Korea by 3-1 (11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7) to advance into the pre-quarterfinals.
In the other results of the day, Indian pair of Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah was knocked out in the men’s doubles as a result of suffering a defeat against Kao Cheng-jui and Chuang Chih-yuan of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals by 3-1 (7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 9-11). India’s Sayali Wani and Taneesha Kotecha were beaten by Republic of Korea’s Shin Yubin and Eon Jihee 3-0 (11-2, 12-10, 11-2). Diya Chitale and Sreeja Akula also took exit route from the tournament after suffering defeat against Cheng I-ching and Li Yu-jhun of Chinese Taipei.
India faced a tough time in their doubles campaign so far in the tournament but the country will look upon the shoulders of athletes participating in the individual events to fetch them the title. The WTT Star Contender Goa will conclude on January 28.
