Asian table tennis championship: Top Indian paddler duo Sharath Kamal-G. Sathiyan along with two other pairs storm into quarterfinals 

Three Indian pairs stormed into the quarterfinals of the Asian table tennis championships at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar on Saturday. The duo of Sharath Kamal-G. Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai-Manav Thakkar reached the men's doubles quarterfinals while Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee made it to the last eight of the women's event.

India’s ace table tennis stars Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran qualified for the men’s doubles quarterfinals with a 3-2 ( 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 8-11, 11-7) victory over Kazakhstan duo Kirill Gerassimenko and Alan Kurmangaliyev in the Round of 16 match.

Meanwhile, Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar bagged a comfortable win against Saudi Arabia’s Naif Al-Jadai and Abdulaziz Al-Abbad in the Round of 16 match. Harmeet and Manav convincingly won with an 11-4, 11-9, 11-9 scoreline.

Sutirtha and Ayhika defeated Chen Szu-Yu and Ali Yu-Jhun of Chinese Taipei 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-9, whereas, compatriots Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath went down to Doo Hoi Kem and Lee Ho Ching of Hong Kong 12-10, 11-7, 10-12, 15-13.

The Indian men's table tennis team signed off with a bronze medal at the Asian Championships after losing to South Korea 0-3 in the semifinals on Friday.

Indian Paddlers singles results at the Asian table tennis championship

The Indian men had an outstanding day on the court. Harmeet Desai, Manav Vikash Thakkar and Sanil Shetty won their respective matches to enter the Round of 64.

Desai defeated Qatar’s Ahmed Alawlaqi in straight games 11-7, 11-6, 11-5. Manav sailed through Fahed Almughanne of Qatar in straight games with a scoreline of 13-11, 11-4, 11-5. Meanwhile, Sanil Shetty cruised past Jaber Al-Balhan of Kuwait with a scoreline of 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 11-6.

Sutirtha Mukherjee defeated Mongolian opponent Bolor-Erdene Batmunkh 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 while Archana Kamath also outhustled Elina Maharajan of Nepal 11-3, 11-2, 11-5.

Ayhika Mukherjee won against Li Yu Jhen of Chinese Taipei 11-5, 11-2, 11-5 whereas Sreeja Akula convincingly swept the match 11-4, 11-7, 12-10 against Siti Aminah (INA).