<p>Indian paddlers made a fine start at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships topping their respective groups in Stage I here Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The men's team, led by Sharath Kamal, first saw off Australia 3-1 and then blanked South Africa in Group B matches played at the Thyagaraj Stadium.<br /><br />The women too had it easy in Group C, beating Sri Lanka and Canada with an identical 3-0 margin. They got a walkover after leading 2-0 against Canada, who failed to field a third player.<br /><br />The second stage of the team championships Monday will see two groups of four teams each. The top two from each pool qualify for the semifinals.<br /><br />Indian men, drawn in Group F of Stage 2, have for company Scotland, Northern Ireland and Malaysia while group E has Singapore, England, Wales and either Australia or South Africa, whose match is still in progress.<br /><br />The women have been pooled together with Singapore, Wales and Scotland in Group E. England, Malaysia, Australia and Sri Lanka are the teams in Group F.<br /><br />The start of the biennial event was not ideal for the Indian men with World No.150 Anthony Amalraj losing the first singles to Australian David Powell, who is ranked 617.<br />"I got a bit nervous playing my first match at home. The loss will keep me on my toes for the coming matches," Amalraj told IANS following his 7-11, 8-11, 8-11 defeat.<br /><br />Kamal, India's highest ranked player at 69, levelled the tie courtesy an 11-5, 13-11, 11-3 win over World No.861 Kane Townsend.<br /><br />Reigning national champion Soumyajit Ghosh sealed the tie by winning the third singles against Wade Townsend 11-5, 11-6, 11-7.<br /><br />Later in the day, India went with the same combination and outplayed South Africa.<br />Here too, Amalraj seemed to be throwing away his lead against Luke Abrahams before recovering in time for an 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 result. Kamal and Ghosh won their matches comfortably.<br /><br />The women's team, which was assured of a win against a depleted Canada, had an easy outing against Sri Lanka in the morning.<br /><br />The experienced Mouma Das came from behind to beat Ishara Madurangi 13-15, 11-5, 11-3, 11-4.<br /><br />National champion Shamini Kumaresan got past Nuwani Vithanage 11-7, 14-12, 11-8.<br />Neha Aggarwal was picked ahead of Madhurika Patkar for the third singles. The Delhi girl had little difficulty in beating Ridhmi Karadanaarachchi 11-4, 11-6, 11-5.</p>
<p>Indian paddlers made a fine start at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships topping their respective groups in Stage I here Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The men's team, led by Sharath Kamal, first saw off Australia 3-1 and then blanked South Africa in Group B matches played at the Thyagaraj Stadium.<br /><br />The women too had it easy in Group C, beating Sri Lanka and Canada with an identical 3-0 margin. They got a walkover after leading 2-0 against Canada, who failed to field a third player.<br /><br />The second stage of the team championships Monday will see two groups of four teams each. The top two from each pool qualify for the semifinals.<br /><br />Indian men, drawn in Group F of Stage 2, have for company Scotland, Northern Ireland and Malaysia while group E has Singapore, England, Wales and either Australia or South Africa, whose match is still in progress.<br /><br />The women have been pooled together with Singapore, Wales and Scotland in Group E. England, Malaysia, Australia and Sri Lanka are the teams in Group F.<br /><br />The start of the biennial event was not ideal for the Indian men with World No.150 Anthony Amalraj losing the first singles to Australian David Powell, who is ranked 617.<br />"I got a bit nervous playing my first match at home. The loss will keep me on my toes for the coming matches," Amalraj told IANS following his 7-11, 8-11, 8-11 defeat.<br /><br />Kamal, India's highest ranked player at 69, levelled the tie courtesy an 11-5, 13-11, 11-3 win over World No.861 Kane Townsend.<br /><br />Reigning national champion Soumyajit Ghosh sealed the tie by winning the third singles against Wade Townsend 11-5, 11-6, 11-7.<br /><br />Later in the day, India went with the same combination and outplayed South Africa.<br />Here too, Amalraj seemed to be throwing away his lead against Luke Abrahams before recovering in time for an 11-9, 12-10, 11-5 result. Kamal and Ghosh won their matches comfortably.<br /><br />The women's team, which was assured of a win against a depleted Canada, had an easy outing against Sri Lanka in the morning.<br /><br />The experienced Mouma Das came from behind to beat Ishara Madurangi 13-15, 11-5, 11-3, 11-4.<br /><br />National champion Shamini Kumaresan got past Nuwani Vithanage 11-7, 14-12, 11-8.<br />Neha Aggarwal was picked ahead of Madhurika Patkar for the third singles. The Delhi girl had little difficulty in beating Ridhmi Karadanaarachchi 11-4, 11-6, 11-5.</p>