Thu, Oct 07 10 10:27 PM
Diganta Biswas New Delhi, Oct 7 (PTI) Indian women paddlers today assured themselves of at least a silver medal by entering the summit stage while their men counterparts advanced to the semifinals of the table tennis competition in the Commonwealth Games here. Seeded fourth, the Indian women''s team breezed into the final by spanking third seed England 3-0, while Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal led the men''s team to a 3-1 victory over South Africa at the Yamuna Sports Complex. By qualifying for the finals, the women''s team improved on its bronze-medal show in the last edition in Melbourne. Former national champion Kumaresan Shamini overcame some early resistance before beating Kelly Sibley 3-1 to give the hosts a winning start in front of a packed gallery, which cheered the home team''s every point. Bengal paddler Mouma Das and reigning national champion Poulomi Ghatak then came out with sizzling performances to beat Joanna Parker and Hannah Hicks, respectively, with an identical 3-0 scoreline. In the final tomorrow, the Indian women will take on top seed Singapore, who eased past Malaysia 3-0 in the other semifinal earlier today. "Our preparatory trips to China before the Delhi Games are paying dividends. We were confident, but did not expect to beat England so easily. We also got good support from the crowd," India''s foreign coach Massimo Constantini said after the match. "We now face the world champions in the final and are quite confident of giving them a good fight. Today''s win has boosted our confidence," the Italian added. In men''s category, second seed India started on a winning note after Sharath thrashed Theo Sydney Cogill 3-0. But in the second tie, Soumyadeep Roy squandered an early lead to go down 2-3 to Shane Overmeyer. However, A Amalraj registered a quick 3-0 win over Daniel Luke Abrahams to put the hosts back on track, before Sharath sealed the issue with a 3-1 win over Overmeyer. The defending champions will take on England in the final-four stage tomorrow. "Roy lost the second match but Amalraj played well to bring us back into the match. I was also a bit tensed in the first match but later found my rhythm," said Sharath, who has climbed one step to become world number 40 in the latest rating issued by International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). "England is a very balanced team and it will be quite competitive tomorrow. We should now wake up to handle some stiff competitions," the lanky Indian added.
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