Manav-Archana, Sutirtha-Ayhika pairs ensure silver medals

 

 

New Delhi, March 4: Two Indian pairs ensured at least silver medals for them, while another ended the WTT Contender Muscat 2022 campaign with a bronze medal today.

 

Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath reached the final of the mixed doubles last night, beating Nandor Ecseki and Leila Imre of Hungary 11-9, 11-7, 11-5 and earned a title-round showdown with the Chinese duo of Wang Chuqin and Chen Xingtong tomorrow. The Chinese pair beat Taipei’s Cheng I-Ching and Li Hshin-Yu 3-0. 

 

In the all-Indian women’s doubles semifinals, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee did well to outwit Sreeja Akuka and Selenadeepthi Selvakumar 11-4, 11-6, 12-10. In tomorrow’s final, the Indians will take on China’s Qiyan Tiani and Chen Xingtong.

 

The 32nd-ranked Manav and Archana had a tough match against Vitor Ishiy and Bruna Takahashi as the 17th-ranked Brazilian pair stretched them fully in the quarterfinals. Yet, the Indians tasted 11-6, 11-7, 8-11, 11-13, 11-8 success, winning the decider. But it was the triumph against the Hungarian duo in the semifinals that must have tasted sweeter after the loss of G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra to Ecseki and Imre.

 

Yesterday evening, G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra failed to take advantage of the first-round walkover and lost in their quarterfinals to Ecseki and Imre 9-11, 10-12, 12-10, 3-11.

 

In the women’s doubles, a combination of defence and attack helped Sutirtha and Ayhika outfox compatriots Sreeja and Selena. Sitting pretty with a 2-0 lead, the winning pair was stretched a bit in the third. However, Sutirta and Ayhika claimed the last two points after their rivals deuced.

 

In women’s singles, Manika entered the quarterfinals without any trouble. The world No. 49 paddler upset No. 23 Bernadette Szocs from Romania with an 11-3, 13-11, 11-8 verdict, though Bernadette fought back well in the second game.

 

However, in the last-eight match against Kuai Man, ranked 287, Manika lost 9-11, 4-11, 3-11. The left-hander, touted as the next Ding Ning, took less than 20 minutes to dispose of the Indian paddler. Whatever little resistance came from Manika, it was in the first game. In the next two, the 18-year-old Chinese raced well ahead of her opponent to sew up her semifinal spot.

 

Kuai had toppled compatriot and 13th-ranked Chen Xingtong 11-6, 9-11, 12-10, 11-7 in the pre-quarterfinal.