Women paddlers storm into final

The Indian women's table tennis team equalled their best ever performance at the Commonwealth Games by reaching the final here on Saturday.

India blanked England 3-0 to set up a summit clash against favourites Singapore.

It is the second time the women's team had made a CWG final, having made their maiden appearance in the 2010 edition in Delhi.

Manika Batra defeated Kelly Sibley 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 in the opening singles while Madhurika Patkar beat Tin-Tin Ho 11-7, 13-11, 10-12, 11-8 to extend the lead.

Patkar returned to action alongside the experienced Mouma Das in the doubles. They outplayed Sibley and Maria Tsaptsinos to seal the issue for India.

"I wasn't even thinking about how I was playing. I was just so pumped and taking the energy and motivation from the bench. We were 1-0 in front and I wanted to go all out to take the team to a 2-0 lead," said Patkar.

"Having the support from the men's team and my own women's team encouraged me to do my very best," she added.

On the final against a formidable Singapore, Das said: "We would love all your support for tonight's game against Singapore. They are a very good team but we will play our best."

Singapore has been the most dominating side ever since table tennis was inducted into the Games' programme in 2002.