Indian paddlers Manav Thakkar and Ayhika Mukherjee began their campaign in the WTT Star Contender Goa 2024 with comfortable victories on Tuesday at the Peddem Indoor Stadium in Mapusa, Goa.
Thakkar overcame the challenge of Anshuman Agarwal 3-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-4) to move into men's singles - qualifying round 3 where he will face Senegal's Ibrahima Diaw.
In the women's singles category, Mukherjee defeated Sayali Wani by (11-9, 11-2, 12-10) in qualifying round 2, while Poymantee Baisya beat Pritha Priya Vartikar 3-0 (12-10, 11-7, 11-7) in qualifying round 1.
Meanwhile, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sanil Shetty faced defeats in the qualifying round 2 to exit the tournament. Kamal went down 2-3 (11-6, 12-10, 4-11, 15-17, 3-11) against South Korea's Kang Dongsoo, whereas Algeria's Mehdi Bouloussa beat Shetty 3-2 (14-12, 11-9, 11-13, 7-11, 11-6).
In the mixed doubles category, Manush Shah and Diya Chitale defeated the Singaporean pair of Quek Izaac and Zhou Jingyi 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-6), while Sreeja Akula and Snehit Suravajjula beat Pang Koen and Wong Ru of Singapore 3-1 (11-9, 13-11, 7-11, 11-8) to reach the qualifying round 2.
