Gujaratis Manush Shah and Harmeet Desai led the charge as Indian paddlers dominated the individual events at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, with a majority of home players advancing to the pre-quarterfinals in the men’s and women’s singles on Friday.
As many as 11 of the 14 Indians in the round of 32 progressed with Manush overcoming a stiff opening-game challenge from Australia’s Chulong Nie before winning 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7, 11-4. Harmeet also recovered after dropping the first game to Australia’s Xuqi Lin, winning 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-6, 11-4. Manav Thakkar advanced comfortably with a win over Maldives’ Akhyar Ahmed Khalid.