New Delhi, March 3: Top-ranked Indian paddler G. Sathiyan found himself knocked out of the WTTC Contender Muscat 2022 when the 16-year-old Lin Shidong from China outsmarted him in the men’s singles round of 32 today.

The good news, however, was that two Indian pairs entered the medal round in women’s doubles. Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee entered the semifinals, courtesy of a walkover from the Czech pair of Zdena Blaskova and Katerina Tomanovsk, and Sreeja Akula, combining with Selenadeepthi Selvakumar defeated Singapore’s Goi Rui Xuan and Won Xin Ru 13011, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7. Both will clash in tomorrow’s silver medal clash.

World No. 32 Sathiyan, who earned a direct entry into the main draw and played his first match of the tournament, went down tamely 8-11, 13-11, 2-11, 8-11.

Sathiyan, the last man standing in the tournament, today followed the five Indians—Harmeet Desai, Anthony Amalraj, Sanil Shetty, Manav Thakkar and Manush Shah—who failed to cross the qualification hurdle yesterday.

The teenager made a great start to his career, appearing for the first time in a Contender event. The Chinese took the first game but lost the second on extended points when Sathiyan resisted stoutly. Yet, the right-hander with a shake-hand grip gave a glimpse of his capabilities, blocking and returning fast and well. He allowed the world No. 32 mere two points to go 2-1 up. 

In the fourth game, the pressure was on the Indian to salvage some pride. But the Junior world No. 78—he is yet to break into the Youth category—maintained a comfortable lead throughout to pummel the Indian to enter the pre-quarterfinals.

But in the women’s singles, Manika Batra and Archana Kamath progressed to the Round of 16, beating their rivals Lin Ye of Singapore and Mo Zhang of Canada, respectively. However, Sreeja Akula tasted defeat when Jia Nan Yuan of France won 11-8, 7-11, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8 in a thriller.

Manika beat Lin 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 and will take on Romanian Bernadette Szocs, who is ranked No. 23 in the world, later today. Manika, ranked 49, has a distinct advantage over her opponent with a 3-2 win-loss record. Archana, who dropped the second after deuce, beat the Canadian 11-6, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9. She will be up against Mongolia’s Xiaoxin Yang in the pre-quarters.

In mixed doubles, Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath entered the quarterfinals after beating Abdullah Yigenler and Ozge Yilmaz of Turkey 11-9, 14-12, 11-2. But Sathiyan and Manika Batra, without breaking a sweat, advanced after the Russian pair of Kirill Skachkov and Olga Vorobeva was denied participation. ITTF announced its decision yesterday of temporary suspension of players from Belarus and Russia, following the latter’s invasion of Ukraine.