KERALA: Kerala lost the first two matches in the table tennis men and women qualifying rounds at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium at Kadavanthra on Sunday.
Manika Batra of Delhi defeated Seraha Jacob 3-1, while Kerala’s Mariya Rony lost to Neha Aggarwal 3-0 and Garima Goyal from Delhi beat Gia Anna George 3-2, securing a win for Delhi in its first match.
In the men’s section, Sanil Shetty, Aman Balgu and Noel Pinto of Maharashtra established their dominance over Anas Irshad, Senthil Kumar R, Bharath Krishnan from Kerala with a 3-0 victory each.
The onlookers were full of appreciation for the Kerala women’s team, saying that they put up a tough fight in front of the much higher ranked Delhi team, that too with a team that consisted of junior players.
“The team put up a tough fight in its first round. Beating Delhi team is by no means easy,” said Maharashtra coach Sriram Konkar.