Table Tennis Olympic Qualification Live Updates: Sutirtha Mukherjee, Sharath Kamal, and G Sathiyan qualify for Tokyo Olympics
All the Live Updates from the Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament in Doha that gives chances to Indian table tennis players to qualify for the Olympics.
Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manika Batra, and Sutirtha Mukherjee
The Asian Olympic Qualification tournament is underway in Doha. All four paddlers - Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manika Batra, Suthirtha Mukherjee have a chance of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics today.
Indian paddlers have to compete only with other South Asian countries for a quota. In women's singles, only 2 entries have been received from South Asia, from Manika and Sutirtha. Thus, India is already assured of one quota as it will go to one of these 2 ladies
Even on the men's side, there are only 3 entries from South Asia – Sharath, Sathiyan and Muhammad Rameez from Pakistan. They are scheduled to play a single round-robin with the winner advancing to Tokyo.
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Three paddlers qualify for Tokyo Olympics and Manika Batra might qualify as well when the April ranking list comes out.
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Indian ace paddler Sathiyan Gnanasekaran qualifies for Tokyo Olympics after he beat Pakistan's Muhammad Rameez 4-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-9, 11-2)
Sathiyan had started his round-robin draw with a 4-3 win against fellow Indian compatriot Sharath Kamal in the morning today. With two victories, he earned the Tokyo Olympics berth from South Asia zone.
Sutirtha Mukherjee qualifies for Tokyo Olympics. She defeats India's top-ranked paddler Manika Batra in the Asian Olympic Qualification event.
Final Score: Manika Batra vs Sutirtha Mukherjee — 11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 11-4, 5-11, 4-11.
Five games into the match and Sutirtha has one foot into booking herself a spot at the Tokyo Olympics. She leads 3-2.
Score: Manika Batra vs Sutirtha Mukherjee — 11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 11-4, 5-11.favour
Neck-to-neck fight between the two Indian paddlers. Manika Batra takes the fourth game 11-4
Score: Manika Batra vs Sutirtha Mukherjee — 11-7, 7-11, 4-11, 11-4
Back to back wins for Sutirtha, takes the third game 11-4.
Score: Manika Batra vs Sutirtha Mukherjee — 11-7, 7-11, 4-11
And as we type, Sutirtha Mukherjee has won the second game with a similar margin (11-7) as Manika.
Sutirtha Mukherjee - the name might not ring any bells at first, but this 23-year-old has earned quite some popularity ever since she defeated Manika Batra at the Senior Nationals in 2018. Currently, she can be considered as the second best after Manika.