Table Tennis
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.
Follow the Live Blog here:
Live Updates
- 18 March 2021 5:16 PM GMT
What a day for Indian table tennis
Three paddlers qualify for Tokyo Olympics and Manika Batra might qualify as well when the April ranking list comes out.
Thanks for joining in. Hope you liked our coverage.
Good night.
- 18 March 2021 5:14 PM GMT
Sathiyan qualifies for Olympics too
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.
- 18 March 2021 5:00 PM GMT
#BREAKING: Sutirtha beats Manika, qualifies for Tokyo Olympics
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.
- 18 March 2021 4:52 PM GMT
3-2 in favor of Sutirtha now
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
- 18 March 2021 4:48 PM GMT
Score is 2-2 now!
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
- 18 March 2021 4:43 PM GMT
And Sutirtha makes it 2-1
Back to back wins for Sutirtha, takes the third game 11-4.
Score: Manika Batra vs Sutirtha Mukherjee — 11-7, 7-11, 4-11
- 18 March 2021 4:38 PM GMT
Sutirtha takes the second game. 1-1.
And as we type, Sutirtha Mukherjee has won the second game with a similar margin (11-7) as Manika.
- 18 March 2021 4:36 PM GMT
Who is Sutirtha Mukherjee?
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.
