Cuttack: Hosts India exuded strong confidence as the women’s team today stormed into the final of the 21st edition of ongoing Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship with comprehensive 3-0 win against strong Singapore.
The women's team had set up a semi clash against Singapore by topping Group F in the Super Eight round after registering thumping 3-0 win over Wales, Malaysia and Nigeria. The team will next face the winner of the other semi final clash between England and debutant Nigeria.
Earlier, the men's team had also booked a semi final berth after registering 3-0 win against Wales, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
Anthony Amalraj had an easy outing against Sri Lankan Krishan Wickramaratha, cleaning him up with a 3-0 verdict in the opener. He struggled a bit against Malaysian Feng Chee Leong but the Indian overcame the initial hiccups to beat him 3-1. G Sathiyan and Manav Thakkar competed against Sri Lanka while Achanta Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai were pitted against Malaysia.
In the women’s team, Archana was the common factor in all the three matches while the two coaches rotated other players, including Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee.
India’s coaches Australian Brett Clarke and Soumyadeep Roy gave ample opportunities to all the players before the knockout matches.
Besides, the host, England men and women, too, made it to the semifinals by notching up two wins each Singapore 3-2/Australia 3-1 and Sri Lanka 3-0/ Australia 3-1 respectively.
With PTI inputs..