Women's team enters round 2 of Commonwealth TT

The Indian women's team cruised to the second round of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships after posting easy wins over Sri Lanka and Canada, here today.
They women paddlers first brushed aside minnows Southern neighbours 3-0 and then went on to beat Canada with a same margin in their group C matches.
Mouma Das, ranked 234 in the world, looked rusty to start with as she dropped the first game 13-15 to Sri Lanka's Ishara Madurangi. The experienced Indian paddler, however, took the next three games easily to give India a 1-0 lead.
K Shamini (275), in the second encounter, took her opponent lightly after winning the first game against Sri Lanka's Nuwani Vithanage. The reigning national champion was made to work hard in the second. She won her fixture 11-7 14-12 11-8.

In the final fixture, local girl Neha Aggarwal (428) demolished Ridhmi Karadanaarachchi 11-4 11-6 11-5 to seal the fate in the hosts' favour.
In the match against Canada, K Shamini and Mouma Das defeated Yuen Sara and Shirley Fu in their respective matches to take India to the top of the group. The hosts got a walkover in the final fixture as Canada's Mo Zhang, ranked 170, did not turn up for the championships.

This time around the hosts' first bet was Shamini, and she was clinical in her approach as she breezed past Sara 11-5 11-5 11-7. In the next fixture, Mouma lost a game again to Fu after winning the first one. However, she won the next two games to give India a 2-0 lead and the contest.

The men's team too started off well, beating Australia in the opening match. Anthony Amalraj (150) was shocked by Australia's David Powell, ranked 617, in the opening fixture.
The 27-year-old Indian was comprehensively beaten 7-11 8-11 8-11.
Then came Achantha Sharath Kamal (70) and he did not disappoint as he brushed aside young Kane Townsend to level the match 1-1. He then went on to win his reverse tie against Powell after current national champion Soumyajit Ghosh won his match, to seal the contest in India's favour.
The men's team will take on South Africa later today.