Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Sharath Kamal enter pre-quarterfinals of WTT Singapore Smash

Indian paddlers Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Achanta Sharath Kamal entered the men's doubles pre-quarterfinals at the Singapore Smash on Sunday. They were stretched to the decider by Chinese Taipei's Lin Yun-Ju and Liao Chen-Ting but showed their experience in the end to emerge victorious 7-11, 11-7, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6.

After losing the first game, the Indians restored parity in the second. However, losing the third game meant the Indians had to play catch-up again. With the 41st-ranked Chinese Taipei players showing better consistency, the Indian duo had to bring out their A-game.

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The Indian pair kept their hopes alive by winning a close fourth game before wrapping up the decider with some authority.

In the pre-quarterfinals, the 31st-ranked Indians have an uphill task as they take on South Korea’s Lim Jonghoon and Jong Woojin, who are ranked second in the world.

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Manika Batra advance in mixed doubles

Sathiyan had a good run in mixed doubles too, partnering Manika Batra. The Indian combine defeated Victor Ishiy and Bruna Takahashi of Brazil 8-11, 11-8, 11-3, 11-1 to enter the quarter-finals.

Though the Brazilians won the first game, the Indians turned the heat on them from the second game and maintained it throughout the match.

The Indians, who are ranked 10th in the world, will meet the top seeds and World No. 1 pair of Cheng-I-Ching and Lin Yun-Ju from Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals.

In the women’s singles event, qualifier Ayhika Mukherjee failed to cross the first hurdle, going down 3-11, 9-11, 8-11 to Chen Szu-Yu of Chinese Taipei.