Mapusa, 24 Jan: Indian table tennis player Nithya Mani qualified for the main draw of the ongoing WTT Star Contender Goa after winning her final qualifying round match at the Peddem Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday.
Chennai-based Nithya won a nail-biting contest against England’s Tin-Tin Ho 3-2 (11-7 6-11 5-11 11-9 11-7) in a women’s singles qualifying Round 3 match to move into the main draw, scheduled to take place from Thursday.
In the women’s singles category, Ayhika Mukherjee lost 1-3 (11-5 9-11 6-11 6-11) to Turkey’s Sibel Altinkaya, while Spain’s Sofia Zhang beat Diya Chitale 3-1 (11-5 6-11 14-12 11-0) in the qualifying round 3 to move into the main draw. Sutirtha Mukherjee went down 1-3 (8-11 7-11, 12-10 4-11) against Hanna Ryu in women’s singles qualifying round 2 to exit the tournament.
In the men’s singles category, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran lost 2-3 (7-11 11-7 6-11 11-7 8-11) against Vincent Picard of France in qualifying round 2 stage.
Senegal’s Ibrahima Diaw then got the better of Manav Thakkar 3-0 (12-10 11-6 11-7) in the qualifying round 3. Jeet Chandra and Payas Jain made their way into the main draw in the men’s doubles category as they registered a comfortable 3-1 (11-13 11-7 12-10 11-4) win over compatriots Yashansh Malik and Abhinandh Pradhivadhi.
Sayali Wani and Taneesha Kotecha beat the India pair of Suhana Saini and Yashaswini Ghorpade 3-1 (9-11 11-9 11-6 11-6) in the women’s doubles qualifying round 2 to reach the main draw. (PTI)