WTT Star Contender Doha: Amalraj, Manav, Reeth fail to qualify; Sathiyan gets first-round bye in main draw

Indian table tennis players Anthony Amalraj, Manav Thakkar and Reeth Rishya failed to qualify for the main draw at the WTT Star Contender tournament in Doha on Tuesday. The Indian trio were outplayed in the second round of qualifiers to endure a meek exit from the WTT Star Contender.

Anthony Amalraj, who got a bye in the first round of qualifiers, was beaten by Japan’s Yuto Kizukuri 3-2 (7-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7) in the second round. Manav Thakkar, meanwhile, went down to French player Abdel-Kader Salifou 3-2 (11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 9-11, 9-11) in the second round.

Anthony Amalraj had the services of India No. 2 table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran on the sidelines, acting as a coach. But the Tamil Nadu paddler couldn’t make it count.

Read: WTT Star Contender Doha 2021: Schedule, Live streaming details

In women’s singles, Reeth Rishya couldn’t put it past Iranian player Neda Shahsavari, losing 0-3 (4-11, 8-11, 6-11). Reeth Rishya had earlier beaten Qatar’s Shouq Abdulla in the first round of qualifiers.

WTT Star Contender Doha action shifts to main draw

The main draw matches at the WTT Star Contender Doha begin on Wednesday. In men’s singles, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai have been drawn in the top half and bottom half respectively.

Sathiyan received a bye in the first round and will square off with either Croatia's Andrej Gacina or Qatar paddler Mohammed Abdulwahhab in the Round of 32.

Harmeet Desai will meet Paraguay’s Marcelo Aguirre in his first-round match on Wednesday.

Sreeja Akula has been drawn to face Slovak Republic’s Tatiana Kukulkova in the women's singles first round while Archana Kamath will lock horns with Great Britain’s Tin-Tin Ho.

Sathiyan and Anthony Amalraj, meanwhile, will face Japan’s Kazuhiro Yoshimura and Yuto Kizukuri in the first round of men's doubles at the WTT Star Contender Doha. Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar will play another Japanese table tennis pair of Yukiya Uda and Shunsuke Togami.

In mixed doubles, Manav Thakkar and Archana Kamath are up against Hong Kong’s Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem in the first round.