Commonwealth C'ship: 15 paddlers qualify for main draw

In a good outing for India, 15 paddlers gained entry into the main draw of the individual event at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here Saturday.

While nine paddlers qualified in the women's category, the men's qualifiers saw six Indians sailing to the main draw.

The women will join the already seeded Archana Kamath, Ayhika Mukherjee and Madhurika Patkar in the main draw.

The Indians that failed to make the cut included Pooja Sahasrabhude, Reeth Risya and Surbhi Patwari.

Surbhi managed just one victory, over Malaysian A Xin Tee when she defeated her 11-5, 3-11, 11-6, 11-6 losing a crucial match to Rui Xuan Goi of Singapore in straight games of 8-11, 1-11, 11-13.

In group 12, Reeth Rishya, clubbed with four players, registered a win over Sri Lankan Chamathsara 11-4, 11-7, 11-9 but lost to Singapore's Eunice Zoe Lim 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 9-11, 13-15. The Indian had a couple of match points but was unable to capitalise on them to finish second in the group.

It was a bad day in the office for Pooja, who finished third despite being seeded at the top of group 14. After beating Scotland's Lara Sterling 11-5, 11-8, 11-8, Pooja suffered a shock loss to Nigeria's Ajoke Ojomu 6-11, 7-11, 11-13. She finished her campaign with yet another defeat to Singapore's Tan-Llin Jassy. Pooja lost 3-11, 13-11, 5-11, 12-10, 7-11.

Singles Qualifiers: