Paddlers seal last-four berths

The Indian table tennis teams began their campaign in style storming into the semifinals of the 12th South Asian Games here today.
Both the men's and women's teams made the semis in the table tennis event.
Placed in Group A, Indian women's team started the proceedings in the morning with Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar and Pooja Sahasrabudhe securing a 3-0 win against Maldives at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Sports Hall.
Five-time national champion Mouma Das started the proceedings in their next match as she along with K Shamini and Madhurika downed arch-rivals Pakistan in another 3-0 result to secure a semifinal berth.

As far as the men's team was concerned, top Indian paddler G Sathiyan was the first among his teammates to take the floor and he beat Mahbub Billah in three straight games. Sanil Shetty then defeated Manash Choudhury in four games, while Sudhanshu Grover took the same amount of time to overcome Mohammed Zaved.
The two top teams from each group progress to the semifinals, meaning that India's win over Nepal later in the day confirmed their place.

Against the Nepal team, India relied on the services of Devesh Karia, national champion Anthony Amalraj and Sudhanshu Grover.
Amalraj took some time to get fully warmed up as he lost the opening game to Shiv Sundhar Gathe 2-11 before bouncing back to take the contest with three straight games.

In the four-team Group B, Sri Lanka were guaranteed a semis berth with two victories, though their final position in the table will only be confirmed after tomorrow's third round.