At the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, top-seeded India began its campaign with commanding 3-nil victories in both the men’s and women’s team events today.
The Indian men’s team defeated Zimbabwe 3-nil in its Group A opener at the Thyagraj Stadium. Commonwealth Games medallist Manav Thakkar beat Taenda Mumvuma 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 before Harmeet Desai overcame Tapiwa Musarurwa 11-5, 11-4, 11-5. Payas Jain sealed the win with an 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 victory over Vikram Singh.
The Indian women also registered a 3-nil win over Maldives in their Group B opener without dropping a game. Sutirtha Mukherjee defeated Fathimath Dheema Ali 11-4, 11-2, 11-5, Yashaswini Ghorpade beat Aishath Rafa Nazim 11-2, 11-5, 11-7, and Swastika Ghosh completed the sweep with an 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 victory over Mishka Mohamed Ibrahim.
