New Delhi, Jun 17 (Table Tennis News) Indian paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran pulled off an upset by beating world No. 6 and reigning European champion, Jorgic Darko, 3-1 to enter the men's singles round of 16 in the WTT Contender in Zagreb, Croatia.

Sathiyan showed courage and executed his plans to perfection on his way to a 6-11 12-10 11-9 12-10 win over the second seeded Slovenian player in their round of 32 clash on Thursday.

"Went all guns blazing as I secured a MASSIVE WIN tonight taking down the World Rank 6 & current European cup champion Jorgic Darko (SLO) 3-1 in the Men Singles Round of 32 here in WTT Contender Zagreb 2022," Sathiyan tweeted.

This is Sathiyan's second win over a player ranked inside top 10 in the world.

Before this, Sathiyan had beaten former World No. 5 Tomakazu Harimoto of Japan during the 2019 Asian Championships.

Sathiyan is part of the Indian table tennis squad for the upcoming 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, which is to start on July 28. 

Also Read : TT player Diya Chitale, who moved court over her exclusion, included in CWG squad

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jun 7 (Table Tennis News) Young Indian table tennis player Diya Chitale, who had approached the Delhi High Court over her exclusion from the women's CWG squad, was on Tuesday included in the side for the July-August event at the expense of Archana Kamath. However, Manush Shah, who had also filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court against his non-selection, remains a reserve player with no changes made in the men's squad, which will be led by Sharath Kamal.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) running the suspended Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had last week announced a provisional women's team comprising Manika Batra, Kamath, Sreeja Akula and Reeth Rishya in the team with 19-year-old Chitale as the standby.

The team was subject to clearance from Sports Authority of India (SAI) but on Monday the Sports Ministry threw the ball back in CoA's court, saying squad selection was the responsibility of the national sports federation.

The selection committee, chaired by CoA member S D Mudgil, met again on Monday after SAI's response and finalised the team. Kamath, who was supposed to play doubles alongside Manika, has been excluded from the squad all together and Swastika Ghosh has been put on standby.

"There is only one change. Diya comes in as the fourth player in place of Archana. Archana did not meet the criteria but we thought she is also a good medal prospect (as she is world number 4 alongside Manika). But we were in a dilemma and that is why we went to the SAI and sought its guidance. "The selectors in the end took the call to include Diya who has also done well domestically and as well as in international events. She would be playing the doubles alongside Manika," Mudgil told PTI.

The team selection factors in performances in domestic (50 percent) and international tournaments (30 percent) while the remaining 20 percent is left for the selectors' discretion.

However, the CoA has decided to change the ratio to 40-40-20 from the next season.

The CoA also finalised former players S Raman and Anindita Chakraborty as the coaches for the men's and women's teams for the Games in Birmingham.

Raman happens to the personal coach of leading India player G Sathiyan and also runs a private academy but the CoA said it will be taking an undertaking from him to ensure there is no conflict of interest.

Squads: Men: Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan, Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty, Manush Shah (standby).

Women: Manika Batra, Diya Chitale, Reeth Rishya, Sreeja Akula, Swastika Ghosh (standby). 

Also Read : India's table tennis squad for CWG announced, women's team will need SAI's clearance

News Source : PTI

Bengaluru, May 31 (Table Tennis News) The selectors of the Indian table tennis team on Tuesday named a four-member women's squad for the Commonwealth Games, subject to clearance from the Sports Authority of India, after Archana Kamath was included in the side despite not meeting the existing criteria.

Kamath is the second highest-ranked Indian player at 66 after Manika Batra (39) but she was not among the top four players going by the existing selection criteria which also factors in domestic performance.

The Committee of Administrators (CoA) plans to tweak the selection guidelines in the future.

The chosen players are Manika, Archana, Sreeja Akula (rank 66), Reeth Rishya (100), with Diya Chitale (129) as the standby.

Experienced players like Ayhika Mukherjee and Sutirtha Mukherjee were ignored.

Explaining the reasons behind awaiting concurrence from SAI, S D Mudgil, CoA representative and chairperson of the selection committee said, "Under the existing selection criteria, one of the members (Archana) falls outside the top four.

"The selection committee is convinced that the existing guidelines are "flawed" and has moved to make necessary course-correction, with new guidelines effective from October 1.

"However, in this transitionary phase, with an eye on a rich medal haul in Birmingham, we have included the said player in the team. She (Archana Kamath) is one half of the doubles pair (Manika the other) that is ranked No. 4 in the world and which will be the top seeds at the Commonwealth Games.

"Therefore, the selection committee feels that this is a case worthy of consideration by SAI." The men's team which has been picked is a more straightforward one, consisting of the great Sharath Kamal, G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai. Manush Shah will be the standby.

Mudgil also made it clear that all the 15 players (eight men and seven women) at the camp will be fielded at the ensuing World Table Tennis Tour events in Zagreb (Croatia), Ototec (Slovakia) and Budapest (Hungary) in June-July as part of an ongoing process to bolster the strength of Indian table tennis.

The CWG-bound paddlers will also be provided with an acclimatisation camp in partnership with a leading European team.

'Aim is to have 10 Indians in world's top-100' ------------------------------------------------- The CoA led by Justice (retd) Gita Mittal was appointed by the Delhi High Court in February this year to "clean up the TTFI".

Unveiling an ambitious five-year plan that envisages setting up a national academy along the lines of the National Cricket Academy, with regional academies in four other cities, she said, "The aim is to have at least 10 Indians in the top-100 in the world in both the senior and the junior categories among men and women.

"For that, we need cooperation from all quarters, not criticism just for the sake of it." Justice Mittal insisted that the CoA would like to carry out its responsibilities and exit as quickly as possible.

"We want to put structures in place and ensure a smooth transition. For us, all players are equally important. Also, the player is the most important stake-holder and it is in their best interest that we will function," she added.

The squads were picked after a week-long national camp at the Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence in Bangalore. 

Also Read : TTFI to offer equal prize money from new table tennis season

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, May 12 (Table Tennis News) The Committee of Administrators (CoA), running the affairs of Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), on Thursday said it would offer equal prize money for men and women in all the national zonal tournaments including national championships across age groups.

A statement from the CoA read: "We hereby decide that women and girl players shall receive equal pay/awards/prize money as their male counterparts in all tournaments and competitions of the game of table tennis." "This is an attempt by the Committee to ensure equal rights, equal pay, equal opportunity and equal recognition for our women players." The winners of the singles events in the 2022 senior nationals got Rs 2.75 lakh in the men's section and Rs 1.80 lakh in the women's competition, the huge difference of close to Rs one lakh forcing the CoA to bring about a change.

"The Committee of Administrators of the Table Tennis Federation of India is deeply concerned about the discriminatory treatment meted out to women and girl players in the sport of table tennis in the context of award of prize money and payments.

"During the 83rd Senior National Table Tennis Championship recently concluded at Shillong, the deep chasm and differential in the payments in the singles events came to the fore," the CoA added in the statement.

"Sports, it is often said, mirrors society. The discrimination prevalent in the society in terms of equal pay and rewards for men and women has persisted even within sport. But this doesn’t make it any less egregious.

"In fact, it is more so because the fundamental essence of all sport is fair-play, fairness in action, equality of access, and of opportunity." The CoA comprises Chetan Mittal and SD Mudgil, with Gita Mittal as its chairperson. 

Also Read : Indian paddler Hansini Mathan Rajan wins U-13 girls title in Austria

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New Delhi, May 5 (Table Tennis News) Indian paddler Hansini Mathan Rajan has returned with two medals, including a gold in the U-13 girls event, from the World Table Tennis Youth Contender tournament held in Linz, Austria.

The tournament was held from May 1-3.

She won the U-13 championship defeating Romania's Andreea Baisu in a thrilling final. The final scoreline read 11-3, 7-11, 9 -11 ,11-0 ,11-8 in the Indian's favour.

She secured bronze in the U-15 category after stunning Choi Hosea of South Korea 3-0 in the quarterfinals. However, Hansini was overpowered by another South Korean, Yoo Yerin, in the semifinals.

Lee Seuengeun won the U-15 title beating compatriot Yoo Yerin in five games. 

Also Read : ITTF Rankings: Manika Batra jumps 10 spots to achieve career-best world no 38, Sathiyan is world no 34

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New Delhi, May 3 (Table Tennis News) Ace paddler Manika Batra attained a career-high singles ranking of 38 with a jump of 10 spots while G Sathiyan was the best placed Indian male at 34 in the latest International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings.

Veteran Achanta Saharath Kamal also gained a place to be world no 37 as most of the Indian players made fair gains in the latest charts.

While Sharath and Sathiyan are the only two male players in the top-100, there are three more apart from Manika in the women's list.

At no 66 is Archana Kamath, who has made a big leap from her previous rank of world no 92. Young Sreeja Akula, who is world no 68, has gained 39 spots from 107th position.

The last Indian woman to be in top-100 is Reeth Tennison, who has gained an astounding 197 spots to be world no 97.

In the men's doubles, G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai are ranked 28th in the while the pair of Sathiyan-Sharath are placed 35th.

In the best ranking across categories, Manika and Archana are ranked world no 4 in the women's doubles section while Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee are next best at world no 29.

In the mixed doubles section, Manika and Sathiyan are ranked world no 6 while Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath are world no 22. 

Also Read : ITTF Rankings: Manika Batra, Archana Kamath make it to top 5 in women's doubles

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New Delhi, Apr 5 (TableTennis News) Indian women's doubles pair of Manika Batra and Archana Girish Kamath jumped two places to break into the top-5 in the latest rankings, released by the ITTF.

The duo now occupies the fourth spot with 1501 points.

Batra and Kamath had claimed the bronze medal at the WTT Star Contender Doha 2022 after losing the semifinals to the Chinese Taipei's pair of Li Yu-Jhun and Cheng I-Ching, last week.

The Chinese pair of Wang Manyu and Sun Yingsha is sitting atop the chart with 4289 points, followed by Japanese combination of Mima Ito and Hina Hayata and Luxembourg's Xia Lian Ni and Sarah de Nutte. 

Also Read : Manika-Archana pair settles for bronze in WTT Star Contender

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Doha, Mar 30 (Table Tennis News) India's Manika Batra and Archana Kamath signed off with a bronze medal after losing the women's doubles semifinals to Li Yu-Jhun and Cheng I-Ching at the WTT Star Contender Doha 2022 here on Wednesday.

The higher-ranked Indian duo failed to reproduce the form they showed on Tuesday and lost to Li and Cheng 8-11, 6-11, 7-11.

Both Manika and Archana, ranked 6th, did well in the first game to stretch the Chinese Tapei duo a little longer, but once the latter had the measure of the Indians, they combined splendidly to shut them out in the second and third game without much ado.

Both G. Sathiyan and Manika also lost their respective singles in the pre-quarterfinals to end India's campaign in the Star Contender events.

Sathiyan lost to Kristian Karlsson of Sweden 11-5, 8-11, 7-11, 4-11 in the men's singles pre-quarterfinals.

Sathiyan began on a confident note but he could not match up with the Swede who was nimble-footed and attacked with pace.

Manika, too, lost her women's singles pre-quarters to Ying Han of Germany meekly.

The 48-ranked Indian was no match for the 17-ranked player of Chinese origin, who won 11-5, 11-2, 11-4. 

Also Read : Manika-Archana pair enters medal round in WTT Star Contender

News Source : PTI

Doha, Mar 29 (Table Tennis News) India's Manika Batra and Archana Kamath entered the medal round of the women's doubles in the WTT Star Contender event after beating Soo Wai Yam Minnie and Lee Ho Ching of Hong Kong 3-1 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The match picked up momentum in the first game itself. The Indians, ranked sixth, fought well to win it on extended points. But in the next, they lost after gaining a slender lead.

Nevertheless, the duo did exceedingly well to put the loss behind and went 2-1 up before winning the fourth in what was a repeat of the first game.

The Indian pair, which won 13-11 8-11 11-5 13-11, will take on Taipei's Li Yu-Jhun and Cheng I-Ching in the semifinals.

Unfortunately, Manika and G. Sathiyan failed to go past the first round when they lost 1-3 (7-11, 11-9, 7-11, 5-11) to Spaniards Maria Xiao and Alvaro Robles last night. The Indian mixed pair is ranked seventh while the Spaniards are 12 places behind them.

Earlier, Sharath Kamal and Manav Vikas Thakkar lost 1-3 their men's doubles to Robles of Spain and Ovidiu Ionescu of Romania.

Sharath lost his second-round match to Dang Qiu of Germany after leading 2-0 in the men's singles. The German player of Chinese origin won 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-7.

In contrast, G. Sathiyan, trailing 0-2, overcame Mattias Falck of Sweden to enter the pre-quarterfinals. The highest-ranked Indian won 8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-6. In the pre-quarterfinals, Sathiyan will clash with another Swede, Kristian Karlsson. Manika accounted for Germany's Xiaona Shan, ranked 26th, in the round of 32 to advance to the next round. The Indian, ranked 48th, won 7-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9.

Manika showed great character to come back after the first game’s loss and fought back with the higher-ranked German. Manika proved her mettle in the fourth game as she held on courageously to win the close fourth game.

She will next take on German Ying Han, who is ranked 17, in the pre-quarterfinals. 

Also Read : WTT Contender Doha: Silver for Sathiyan-Manika pair, Sharath earns bronze

News Source : PTI

Doha, Mar 24 (Table Tennis News) India paddlers finished the WTT Contender Doha 2022 with two medals, including a singles bronze won by Achanta Sharath Kamal, as seniors showed the way on the concluding day of the competition.

As expected, G Sathiyan and Manika Batra settled for the silver, capitulating in the final of the mixed doubles against the top-seeded Chinese Taipei pair of Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching. The Indians lost 4-11, 5-11, 3-11.

Sharath Kamal, on the other hand, failed to up the ante from an advantageous position in the sixth game and went down fighting 3-4 (5-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 11-5, 10-12, 9-11 in the semifinals of the men’s singles against Yuan Licen of China.

This was the first medal for Sharath in two years. The Indian veteran had won a gold in the Oman Open in 2020.

The No. 7 Indian mixed pair found the going tough against the Taipei combine right from the start. Their troubles only multiplied when Sathiyan and Manika failed to comprehend the left-right combination that went about the task clinically.

Yet, it was creditable for the Indians to resist as much as they could before eventually surrendering to the Taipei paddlers.

But Sharath will rue his missed opportunity on a day when he had the rhythm and form on his side. Trailing 1-2, the higher-ranked Indian (No. 41) came back strongly to go 3-2 up against the Chinese, ranked 264.

In the sixth game, Sharath was up 9-7 but frittered away his chances and let Licen off the hook. The Chinese not only reduced the margin but was on game-point. Sharath managed to deuce but failed to hold his serve, allowing his opponent to level the score.

In the decider, Sharath once again led 6-4. But he could not maintain it and the Chinese, gaining confidence, kept the lead before completing the task without giving any opportunity to his rival.

"I should have wrapped it up in the sixth game itself," admitted Sharath, who has had a knee procedure done some time ago. But Sharath was happy with his form, especially his backhand coming off well.

"I am glad I finished on the podium (bronze) and carry the form from here to the next tournament," he added. 

Also Read : Sharath Kamal sails into semifinals at WTT Contender Doha

News Source : PTI

Doha, Mar 23 (Table Tennis News) Veteran Sharath Kamal finally made the men's singles medal round in a major championship when he entered the semifinals of the WTT Contender Doha here on Wednesday.

He was the lone Indian, ranked No. 41, in the fray after beating Tomislav Pucar of Croatia 11-8, 11-7, 11-4, following the exit of G Sathiyan, in the first round.

However, Sathiyan and Manika Batra combined well to reach the final of the mixed doubles. The pair, ranked No. 7 in the world, accounted for Hong Kong's Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Ken 3-2.

The Croat, just a place ahead of Sharath in the world rankings, failed to contend with the Indian onslaught in the quarterfinals and was error-prone on the day.

The closest he came to Sharath was in the first game in which he managed eight points, and one less in the second. However, in the third, Sharath ran into a sizable lead and maintained it throughout to win it in style.

In the semifinals, Sharath will take on Chinese Yuan Licen, who is ranked 264. But it was the same Chinese who accounted for Sathiyan on Monday when he decimated the Indian 11-5, 11-6, 14-12.

Other men's paddlers that could not make it to the main draw of the men's singles included Manav Thakkar, Harmeet Desai, SFR Snehit and Mudit Dani.

The win in the semifinals by the mixed duo against the world No. 4 pair was indeed creditable, particularly after the way the Indians kept their hopes alive when the Hong Kong pair levelled the score 2-2, taking the issue to the decider.

In the crucial fifth game, they stopped their opponents well short to win the match 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8. In the final on Thursday, they will meet the top seeded pair from Taipei -- Cheng I-Ching and Lin Yun-Ju.

In the women's singles, Manika Batra tasted defeat in the first round of the main draw, bowing out to Chinese Fan Siqi 7-11, 5-11, 6-11. Ranked 81, the Chinese proved to be a tough nut to crack for the 48th ranked Indian.

Among the women paddlers, except for Archana Kamath and Sutirtha Mukherjee, all others folded in earlier rounds, including Sreeja Akula, Krittwika Sinha Roy and Prapti Sen. 

Also Read : India's mixed and women's doubles pairs win silver medals at WTT Contender Muscat

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Mar 5 (Tennis News) The Indian mixed doubles pair of Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath clinched a silver medal after losing their final match, as did the women's doubles duo of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee at the WTT Contender tournament in Muscat on Saturday.

The Thakkar-Kamath duo lost 3-11 3-11 6-11 to the Chinese pair of Wang Chuqin and Chen Xintong in the mixed doubles final while Sutirtha and Ayhika suffered a 6-11 11-8 10-12 7-11 defeat at the hands of Zhang Rui and Kuai Man, also from China, in the women's doubles summit clash.

On Friday, Sreeja Akula and Selenadeepthi Selvakumar had won a women's doubles bronze after losing in the semifinals to Sutirtha and Ayhika.

It was a creditable performance from both the mixed doubles and women's doubles pairs as they could finish on the podium while the likes of G Sathiyan and Manika Batra failed to rise to the expectations.

The focus of Indian paddlers will now shift to Singapore Smash tournament that carries a USD 2 million prize purse. The event begins with the qualifiers on March 7 and runs till March 20. 

Also Read : Archana and Sreeja Akula make cut, men exit

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Mar 2 (Table Tennis News) Indian paddlers Archana Kamath and Sreeja Akula qualified for the women's singles main draw of the WTT Contender Muscat 2022.

They will join Manika Batra, who got a direct entry into the round of 32.

In the men's singles, however, none of the five players made it to the main draw. It leaves G Sathiyan, another direct entrant into the second stage, to fight for India's honours. He will clash with 16-year-old Chinese Lin Shidong in the round of 32.

In the third round of the qualifiers, Archana defeated Oze Yilmaz 11-8 5-11 12-10 11-7. The 145th ranked player from Turkey managed to take the second game off Archana and came close in the third at 10-10.

But the 99th ranked Indian saw through the crucial phase to stamp her authority. In the main draw, she will take on higher-ranked (No 42) Mo Zhang of China in the round of 32.

Sreeja, in her third-round triumph (11-5 11-13 12-10 11-4) over Yang Huijing, had to endure good resistance from the 223rd ranked Chinese. The Indian paddler, ranked 111, won the third game 12-10 before closing out on her rival.

Sreeja will meet Jia Nan Yuan, a player of Chinese origin, representing France in her next round.

Young Diya Chitale put up a good fight against Shi Xunyao, also from China, before losing 7-11 4-11 11-9 18-16 11-8. The Mumbai girl, down 0-2, picked up well but eventually lost in the decider.

But Reeth Rishya and Sutirtha Mukherjee went down in the second round even as veteran Madhurika Patkar failed in the first.

World no 49 Manika Batra will enter the fray for the first time, along with two other Indians, later this evening. She will clash with Lin Ye (No 62) from Singapore.

As for India's male paddlers, only Manav Thakkar (No 133) managed to enter the fourth round of qualification. However, he lost to 387th ranked Yuan Licen of China 12-10 11-5 11-6 11-13.

Harmeet Desai, Sanil Shetty and Manush Shah exited in the third round, while Anthony Amalraj bowed out in the second round.

India received a double jolt when the second-seeded pair of G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai first went down to Taipei duo of Peng Wang-Wei and Chuang Chih-Yuan 2-3 (11-7 10-12 4-11 13-11 9-11), followed by the exit of Manika Batra and Archana Kamath, also seeded second. They lost to the Hungarian pair of Leila Imre and Mercedes Nagyvaradi 7-11 9-11 6-11.

But success came for Manush Shah and Manav Thakkar, who posted a hard-fought 7-11 11-3 6-11 11-7 14-12 win against Brazil's Eric Jouti and Vitor Ishiy. They will now run into the same Taipei pair that beat Sathiyan and Desai in the quarterfinals.

More surprise, however, was in store for India when Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee combined well to upset the top-seeded Diaz siblings, Adriana and Melanie of Puerto Rico, 11-6 11-5 11-9.

They will meet Zdena Blaskova and Katerina Tomanovska of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals On Thursday. Sreeja and Selena Deepti Selvakumar paired up to beat the Singaporean duo of Lin Ye and Zeng Jian 11-8 5-11 13-11 5-11 11-4 in round of 16.

They await a quarterfinal showdown against Goi Rui Xuan and Wong Xin Ru, also from Singapore. 

Also Read : Manika Batra breaks into top-50 of world rankings

News Source : PTI

New Delhi, Jan 31 (Table Tennis News) Manika Batra has jumped six places to enter the top-50 of the women's singles world rankings for the first time.

Batra has reached a career high 50th in the latest ITTF rankings.

In the men's singles rankings, G Sathiyan has moved up places to reach 33rd position while Sharath Kamal has slipped two places to be 34th.

Batra and Sathiyan have also moved up to 11th in the mixed doubles rankings. Batra and Archana Kamath have moved up four places to sixth in the women's doubles rankings. 

Also Read : TTFI postpones all National Championships across categories due to COVID-19 surge

News Source : PTI

Indore, Jan 4 (Table Tennis News) The Table Tennis Federation of India on Tuesday decided to postpone events in three categories (Under-15, Under-13 and Under-11) in the ongoing National Ranking (Central Zone) Championships in the wake of a fresh COVID-19 surge in the country.

The committee also decided to postpone the Senior Nationals to be held in Shillong from January 22 to 29. The Cadet and Sub-Junior Nationals that were to begin from January 11 have also been put on hold.

These decisions were taken during the virtual special executive committee meeting chaired by Senior Vice-President Rajeev P. Bodas, Secretary General Arun Kumar Banerjee and organising stakeholders of the four championships.

Taking into consideration the prevailing situation, particularly in the aftermath of several positive cases at the Central Zone events, the Secretary General announced that the three events in the championships and the Cadet & Sub-Junior Nationals that follow from January 11 to 19 stands postponed.

As for the Junior and Youth Nationals (Alleppey), the Secretary General said that there was no change in the original schedule (February 22-March 2) for the time being.

Also Read : Tennis Premier League: Hyderabad Strikers make semis, Chennai Stallions win big.

News Sources : PTI