Indian paddlers begin well

India made a positive start to their campaign at the final World Olympic Qualification table tennis championships with as many as three out of  four paddlers registering wins in their tournament openers here on Thursday.

In the men’s section, both Anthony Amalraj and Achanta Sharath Kamal kept alive their London dreams, securing their places in the next round with consummate ease.

While national champion Amalraj defeated world number 49 Emmanuel Lebesson of France 11-4, 9-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-5 in his Group 2 match, Sharath got the better of Slovakian Jan Zibrat 6-11, 11-6, 11-6, 5-11, 11-4, 11-6. Amalraj will now take on Vladislav Sorbalo in his next match, while Sharath will be up against England’s Andrew Baggaley, who won 4-2 against Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan.

India, however, witnessed a mixed outing in the women’s section. While world number 225 Poulomi Ghatak stunned 85th ranked Oxana Fedeeva of Russia 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 6-11, 11-13, 11-5, Kumaresan Shamini lost to world number 93rd Gabriala Feher from Serbia 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 13-15, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9.

The only hurdle for Poulomi now is Netherland’s Elena Timina, who is ranked 121 in the world.