Table Tennis
WTT Contender Muscat 2022: Manav Thakkar/Harmeet Desai storm into semi-finals
World No. 38 men's doubles duo of Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai are the only Indian paddlers remaining in the fray at the WTT Contender Muscat 2022 and they are into the semis.
Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar (Source: ITTF)
Gujarat boys Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai are in fine form at the ongoing WTT Contender Muscat 2022 and sailed into the semi-finals of the event. With their victory in the quarters, Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai are the only remaining Indian paddlers in the fray at the tournament.
In an otherwise lacklustre outing for the Indian table tennis players with most crashing out at the pre-quarterfinal stage, Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai, fresh off his gold medal win at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, have kept the medal hopes very much alive for India at this Oman event.
Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai defeated Al Jassasi Bader and Mutawa Mohammed Al, a local pair from Oman in the quarters, 3-0 ( 11-5, 11-2, 12-10) in a 14-minute bombarding to enter the semi-finals.
Next up, the World No. 38 pair from India will take on the Chinese duo of Guankai Niu and Linwei Sai for a place in the finals.
In other updates, Manika Batra lost her singles pre-quarters to Ukraine's Margaryta Pesotska, the World No. 38, in straight games, 3-0. Diya Chitale also lost to World No. 20 Chinese paddler Chen Xingtong 3-0.
In the women's doubles, Sreeja Akula and Diya Chitale gave a walkover while World No. 5 pair Archana Kamath and Manika Batra lost their comeback match in the quarterfinals against the lower-ranked Chinese duo of Chen Xingtong and Qian Tianyi, 3-0, in a closely-fought match.
In the mixed doubles, Archana Kamath and Manav Thakkar fought hard against the Chinese pair of Liu Yebo and Chen Xingtong but lost 3-0 too.
