New Delhi, Jul 27: Indian men's and women's teams registered a 3-0 victory over Zimbabwe and Maldives as the hosts made a strong start to their campaign in the 22nd Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships. Indian paddler Manav Thakkar set the tone early on with a clinical 11-3, 11-2, 11-6 victory over Taenda Mumvuma.
On the other hand, seasoned paddler Harmeet Desai comfortably registered a win against Tapiwa Musarurwa 11-5, 11-4, 11-5 before youngster Payas Jain completed the rout with an 11-3, 11-3, 11-8 win against Vikram Singh as Indian men blanked Zimbabwe in their Group A opener.
India's women, among the pre-tournament favourites, began their campaign dominantly by blanking the Maldives 3-0 in Group B without conceding a single game. Sutirtha
Mukherjee laid the foundation with an emphatic 11-4, 11-2, 11-5 win over Fathimath Dheema Ali. Yashaswini Ghorpade then extended India's lead by defeating Aishath Rafa Nazim 11-2, 11-5, 11-7, before Swastika Ghosh sealed the tie with a commanding 11-3, 11-5, 11-2 victory against Mishka Mohamed Ibrahim.
Elsewhere, Malaysia also got off to a winning start, defeating Wales 3-0 in their Group A opener at the Thyagaraj Stadium. In the men's competition, Australia and Namibia were handed 3-0 walkover victories against Jamaica and South Africa, respectively, in Group B. England cruised past Cyprus 3-0, while New Zealand registered an equally convincing 3-0 win over the Falkland Islands in Group C. Group D saw Canada overpower Scotland 3-0, with Singapore also securing a straightforward 3-0 victory over Northern Ireland.
However, the biggest upset of the opening day came in the women's Group A, where top-seeded Singapore was stretched to the brink by Sri Lanka before narrowly escaping with a 3-2 win. Elsewhere, Northern Ireland edged South Africa 3-2 in Group B, while Australia and England posted identical 3-0 victories over Bangladesh and Cyprus, respectively, in Group C. In Group D, Canada advanced via a walkover against Botswana, and Malaysia completed a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Scotland.
