WTT Star Contender Doha 2022: Manika Batra, G Sathiyan, Sharath Kamal spearhead Indian charge - watch live streaming
Tokyo Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee and Asian Games medallist Anthony Amalraj will start from the qualifiers. Watch live!
India’s top table tennis players Manika Batra, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sharath Kamal will be seen in action at the WTT Star Contender Doha 2022 starting from Friday.
The Indian team in Doha features 14 players – six men and eight women. The table tennis tournament will be held at Lusail Sports Arena and will conclude on March 31.
In the men’s singles, G Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal will start from the main draw. Both players have dropped down significantly in the latest WTT rankings after a series of early exits and will look to put up a good show at the Doha meet.
While Sathiyan, who was world No. 33, slipped to 37, Sharath Kamal went down seven places to 41st.
Asian Games medallist Anthony Amalraj, Manav Thakkar, Mudit Dani, Sanil Shetty will start from the qualifiers in men’s singles.
Manika Batra, who also dropped two places to 48, will be the only Indian table tennis player with a direct entry in the women’s singles main draw.
Manika Batra’s partner in women’s doubles main draw, Archana Kamath, will play the qualifiers in women’s singles.
In mixed doubles, Batra will team with G Sathiyan. The Indian duo, ranked world No. 7, is in the final of the ongoing WTT Contender in Doha.
Tokyo Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee, Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, Diya Chitale, Reeth Tennison, Takeme Sarkar are the remaining Indian players who will also start from the qualifying rounds in women’s singles.
Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee, who won the women’s doubles silver at WTT Contender Muscat, will begin from qualifiers while Manika Batra-Archana Kamath, ranked sixth, are in the women’s singles main draw.
In the men’s doubles main draw, Sharath Kamal will team up with Manav Thakkar instead of Sathiyan. Commonwealth Games medallists Sanil Shetty and Anthony Amalraj will, however, have to navigate through the qualifiers to join them.
Manav Thakkar will also be competing in the mixed doubles main draw with Archana Kamath. The duo had won the silver at the WTT Contender in Muscat but faltered in the round of 16 at the WTT Contender Doha earlier this week.
WTT Star Contender Doha 2022: Indian table tennis squad
Men Singles
Main Draw - Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sharath Kamal
Qualifiers - Anthony Amalraj, Manav Thakkar, Mudit Dani, Sanil Shetty
Men’s doubles
Main Draw - Manav Thakkar/Sharath Kamal
Qualifiers - Sanil Shetty/Amalraj Anthony
Women Singles
Main Draw - Manika Batra
Qualifiers - Archana Kamath, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, Diya Chitale, Reeth Tennison, Takeme Sarkar
Women’s doubles
Main Draw - Manika Batra/Archana Kamath
Qualifiers - Ayhika Mukherjee/Sutirtha Mukherjee
Mixed doubles
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Manika Batra, Manav Thakkar/Archana Kamath
Where to watch WTT Star Contender Doha 2022 live in India?
Live streaming of the WTT Star Contender Doha 2022 will be available on World Table Tennis’ YouTube channel. There is no live telecast of the table tennis tournament in India.