Indian women will take on Kazakhstan in the First Division final of the 25th-ITTF-ATTU Asian table tennis championships to be held at the Lusail Sports Arena here on Thursday. By finishing in the top two of the First Division, India entered the Championship Division.
Earlier, India topped Group-1 with convincing 3-0 wins over Jordan and Nepal. In the two ties, none of the Indians lost a game. The four group toppers--India, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan--played a criss-cross semifinal on Wednesday. In the first knock-out match, India trounced Uzbekistan 3-0 while in the other contest Kazakhstan overcame a tough challenge from Iran before emerging triumphant 3-1 to book a place in the summit clash.
Meanwhile, in the women's singles draw, Archana Kamath, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Sreeja Akula have received a bye in the first round. Sutirtha Mukherjee will take on Ali Maha of Qatar on Friday.
The results:
First division: Women (Second stage): India bt Uzbekistan 3-0 (Archana Kamath bt Markhabo Magdieva 11-2, 11-5, 11-4; Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Rozalina Khadjieva 11-6, 11-7, 11-3; Ayhika Mukherjee bt Sugdiyona Madalieva 11-8, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7); Kazakhstan bt Iran 3-1.
