TT worlds: Sathiyan, Sharath and Manika win

Manika Batra, G Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal had contrasting first-round singles outings but progressed to the Round of 64 at World Table Tennis Championships Finals in Durban on Sunday.

While Sathiyan was forced to dig deep to get past world No. 101 Tom Jarvis of England 4-3 (11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 11-2, 13-15, 11-13, 11-6), Manika, the top-ranked Indian at 39, lost just 11 points in cruising past Algeria's Lynda Loghraibi 4-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-2, 11-5). Sharath beat Austrian David Serdaroglu 4-1 (11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6).

Sathiyan, world No. 51, was taken the distance by the Englishman ranked 50 places below him but kept his composure in the decider. After nudging ahead in the first game, Sathiyan was down 3-7 in the second but overturned the deficit to bag it 11-8.

The third and fourth games saw the momentum swing either side. Sathiyan had the chance to finish the contest in the fifth game where Jarvis saved two match points. The 23-year-old eked out the close fifth and sixth games before Sathiyan stepped it up in time to pull off a fighting win.

Sharath had a more straightforward opener. Except for a slight dip in the second game, the 40-year-old was largely in control against the 170th-ranked Serdaroglu. The Commonwealth Games champion though awaits a stiffer challenge as he faces world No. 33 Lee Sang Su of Korea next.

Sharath and Sathiyan also won their men's doubles opener against Egyptians Mohamed Shouman and Mohamed El-Beiali 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-6).

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