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The Singapore Smash 2024, taking place at the Singapore Sports Hub, saw some exciting battles on the final day of the qualifying rounds. The tournament has a prize pool of USD 1,500,000 and is seeing participation from almost all the top paddlers in the world.
India’s Sutirtha Mukherjee and veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal won decisive matches against Andreea Dragoman and Nicolas Burgos, respectively, to enter the main draw.
Apart from Mukherjee and Kamal, Manav Thakkar was the other Indian looking to book his place in the main draw, but the 23-year-old narrowly missed out, going down in the last round of the qualifiers.
A closer look at the results of the Indian paddlers at the Singapore Smash 2024
In the men’s singles category, Manav Thakkar took on Poland’s Maciej Kubik. Despite taking the first set, Thakkar lost the next three in an incredibly close manner and ultimately went down to Kubik with a scoreline of 14-12, 5-11, 10-12, 10-12. Thakkar played some phenomenal table tennis throughout the tournament, beating France's Can Akkuzu and Hong Kong's Lam Siu Hang in the previous rounds.
Meanwhile, Achanta Sharath Kamal, India’s most experienced paddler, displayed his skills with two impressive victories. Kamal first triumphed over Japan's Yuta Tanaka with a score of 11-8, 11-9, 11-6 in his second-round match.
He then continued his winning streak by defeating Deni Kozul with a scoreline of 11-8, 11-13, 11-9, 11-6 in the last round of the qualifiers, securing his place in the main draw. Kamal is now set to face Nicolas Burgos on Monday, March 11.
In the women's singles qualifying rounds, Sutirtha Mukherjee was India's only remaining representative. Mukherjee faced Andreea Dragoman in her last-round match. The first set saw Dragoman win 11-8, but Mukherjee quickly changed her strategy and took the next three games, beating Dragoman with a score of 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-6, securing her spot in the main draw.
She is scheduled to face off against Xiaoxin Yang of Monaco, ranked 13th in the world, on Sunday, March 10.
India’s finest women’s singles paddlers, Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra, have received direct entry into the main draw at the tournament. Alongside the singles players, India also has representatives in every doubles category, and all the pairs will be seen in action on either March 10 or 11.
