Kuala Lumpur : India’s women team cruised into the main draw of the World Table Tennis Team Championships after thrashing Croatia 3-0 in the Second Division last group match here on Wednesday.
Manika Batra, Mouma Das and K Shamini won their respective matches as the Indian eves blanked Croatia and topped group G here. Manika beat Lea Rakova 11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6 to provide the lead which was then consolidated by Mouma who defeated Yuan Tian 13-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-2. In the third singles, Shamini downed Ivana Tubikanec 14-12, 11-8, 7-11, 11-3 to complete the drubbing. Yesterday, in the late evening match, the women’s team got a walkover from Nigeria.
Indian men’s team, after the third round reverse against Nigeria, beat Switzerland 3-0 in a late evening match on Tuesday.
Soumyajit Ghosh gave the lead beating Elia Schmid 11-8, 11-7, 8-11, 11-3, while Sharath Kamal, playing the second singles, defeated Lionel Webber 11-7, 11-7, 11-7. In the third singles, G Sathiyan, who was tried out in a new combination, downed Nicolas Champod, 11-7, 11-5, 11-3.
The Indian men’s team is scheduled to play Slovak Republic to complete their group F engagements and the results of which will decide their fate.
The Nigerians are leading the points table with eight points while the Indians are just behind them with seven points.
