Picture Credit: Twitter
After Sharath Kamal and Harmeet Desai won the first match for India, Sanil Shetty built on the momentum and won the next game against Northern Ireland's Paul Mccreery.
With his attacking game in place, Sanil took the first set 11-5 and continued his dominance and won the second and third sets as well with a score of 15-13, 11-6 respectively. After Shetty, Hemant Desai capped off another incredible Indian win in the Commonwealth Games.
Sanil Shetty has been gearing up for this tournament for a long time as he wanted to replicate the success of the 2018. Hence before the start of the CWG 22, he worked with the Former International Table Tennis Player and National Games & SAF Games Gold Medalist Aman Balgu.
The Mumbai-based paddler talked about the role Aman played before the tournament and how both of them worked as a unit to ensure success in Birmingham. He said, “Aman himself being an aggressive player, we gel together really well during training sessions. I won’t say I am tense but it is a different feeling this being my first stint with the Indian team and that, too, for Commonwealth Games.
"Of course, every player will have pressure because in 2018, our women’s team won gold, and this time, three of us are new and Manika will lead. So yes, we are prepared to bring back gold home. I am expecting three medals in the four events I am competing in (team, singles, mixed and doubles),” he continued.
Like the men's team, the Indian women's team also registered a clinical win 3-0 win over Guayana. The pair of Sreeja Akula and Reeth Tennison started the proceeding as they dominated Natalie Cummings and Chealsea Edghill 11-5 11-7 11-7 to put India 1-0 ahead.
Then was Manika Batra's turn as she ran through Thuraia Thomas in straight games 11-1 11-3 11-3. Finally, Reeth Tennison sealed India's sensational win and defeated Chealsea Edghill in straight sets 11-7 14-12 13-11. India is looking like one of the most formidable squads and has a chance to repeat their exploits from the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth games and defend their title.