WTT Star Contender: Harmeet, Sutirtha, and Yashaswini make it to the singles main draw

Three Indian players made it to the singles main draw of WTT Star Contender Goa for the first time in Panjim on Tuesday. Commonwealth Games medallist Harmeet Desai in men's singles while teenager Yashaswini Ghorpade and Tokyo Olympian Sutirtha Mukherjee made it to the main draw in women's singles.

Also Read: FIH Pro League 2023: Hockey India declares David John, BJ Kariappa, and Shivendra Singh as interim coaches for the Indian men's team

A total of three qualifying rounds were held in singles while two rounds were played in doubles. The table tennis tournament is being held at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium in Goa. A total of 200 players from 30 countries are participating in the WTT Star Contender Goa 2023.

Yashaswini is the youngest among these three players in the WTT Star Contender 2023. She entered the main draw after defeating two South Korean players ranked higher than her. She first defeated world number 103 Cheonhui Joo 11-7 11-6 9-11 11-8. After that, she defeated world number 104 Nayeong Kim 11-6 1-11 5-11 11-5 11-7. Yashaswini's world ranking is currently 196. Yashaswini will take on world number 38 Miyu Nagasaki of Japan.

The next Indian to make it to the main draw was Sutirtha. Her ranking is 147 in the world. She defeated Chinese Taipei's Li Yu-Jhun (world ranking 92) 3–0 (11–9, 11–8, 11–6) in the first round. She then defeated South Korea's world number 107 Eunhye Lee 3–1 (11–1). 9 6-11 11-6 11-8). Sutirtha will take on compatriot Suhana Saini in the main draw on Wednesday.

Also Read: Cricket Facts: 4 times team won a test match after following on 

Meanwhile, Harmeet Desai, a member of India's gold medal-winning men's team at the Commonwealth Games 2022 is the only Indian to qualify for the main draw from the men's singles qualifiers for the WTT Star Contender 2023. He defeated Germany's world number 99 Fanbo Meng in the first round. After that, he defeated Argentina's Horacio Cifuentes, world number 84, 3-2 (11-7 9-11 11-7 8-11 11-5). However, Harmeet Desai, ranked 141st, will have his task cut out against India's top-ranked table tennis player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, world No. 41, in the men's singles main draw on Saturday.