Top seeded Indian men”s and women”s teams registered identical 3-0 victories over Zimbabwe and Maldives respectively as the hosts made a commanding start to their campaign in the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here on Monday.
Commonwealth Games medallist Manav Thakkar set the tone with a clinical 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 victory over Taenda Mumvuma. Experienced campaigner Harmeet Desai then comfortably accounted for Tapiwa Musarurwa 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 before youngster Payas Jain completed the rout with a 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 win against Vikram Singh as Indian men blanked Zimbabwe in their Group A opener.
Malaysia also opened with a 3-0 victory over Wales in the same group at the Thyagraj Stadium.
Elsewhere in the men”s competition, Australia and Namibia were awarded 3-0 walkovers over Jamaica and South Africa respectively in Group B. England defeated Cyprus 3-0, while New Zealand overcame Falkland Islands by an identical margin in Group C.
In Group D, Canada outclassed Scotland 3-0, and Singapore registered a comfortable 3-0 victory over Northern Ireland.
India”s women, seeded among the title contenders, were equally impressive in their Group B opener, brushing aside Maldives 3-0 without dropping a game.
Sutirtha Mukherjee opened with an emphatic 11-4, 11-2, 11-5 win over Fathimath Dheema Ali before Yashaswini Ghorpade defeated Aishath Rafa Nazim 11-2, 11-5, 11-7. Swastika Ghosh then wrapped up proceedings with an authoritative 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 victory over Mishka Mohamed Ibrahim.
However, the biggest surprise of the opening day came in the women”s Group A, where top seeds Singapore were pushed to the limit by a spirited Sri Lankan side before escaping with a hard-fought 3-2 victory.
In the remaining women”s matches, Northern Ireland edged South Africa 3-2 in Group B, Australia and England recorded identical 3-0 victories over Bangladesh and Cyprus respectively in Group C, while Canada received a walkover against Botswana and Malaysia defeated Scotland 3-0 in Group D.