singapore English news | singapore, Latest News & Live Updates in English | English News (Latest English News) at Lokmattimes.com

Sharath, arguably the most experienced Indian in the squad at world No. 32, has always been instrumental in India's medal hunt since his gold-winning performance in 2006 Commonwealth Games at Melbourne. Add the presence of G. Sathiyan, the top-ranked Indian in the world at No. 24, the woes for any opponent is complete.The two experienced and in-form players will combine with the likes of Anthony Amalraj, Harmeet Desai and the exuberant Manav Thakkar. As for the world rankings of the three players are concerned, none of them is in the top-100 list.Yet, they make a potent weapon for India to use against their opponents in the two-stage format of the team championships which will have the group matches-two teams from each group qualify for the second stage-followed by knockouts which culminate with the finals on July 19.Indian men, who look formidable as compared to other teams, are naturally the favourites to win the men team championships. But that cannot be said about the women squad, which is led by Manika Batra, who is the lone Indian in the top-100 of the world.Until recently, the golden girl who turned it around for India at the 2018 CWG in Gold Coast, was the first Indian to hit the sub-50 mark in world ranking in the beginning of the year but since then she has been hovering in the 50+ marks.However, it will be Manika who is expected to shoulder India's burden with the likes of Madhurika Patkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Archana Kamath and Ayhika Mukherjee. Fortunately, India have one reigning and three former national champions in the squad of five and their combined experience could be the real clincher at the team championships.But the Indian squad would remember their loss to Singapore in the finals last time they played at Surat. In other worlds, Singapore look to be the team to compete for women's title and lift the India Cup.The individual events begin on the third day after the team finals with group qualifying matches and it is to be seen whether one of the Ind could end up with the Singapore Cup (men singles) and Oceania Cup (women singles). At home last time, Ind had to settle for the silver medal.Of the other three cups on offer-Hong Cup (men doubles), Canada Cup (women doubles) and Guernsey Cup (mixed doubles), India could scoop up with at least a couple, most notably the men and mixed doubles.The squads:Men: A. Sharath Kamal, G. Sathiyan, A. Amalraj, Manav Thakkar and Harmeet Desai.Women: Manika Batra, Madhurika Patkar, Sutirtha Mukherjee, Archana Kamath, Ayhika Mukherjee.( With inputs from IANS )

SingaporeFOLLOW

Singapore, Latest News

Films in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Assamese and Ladakhi will be showcased at the third edition of Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg. SAIFF). ...

Two Singapore-based Indian origin YouTubers on Friday said they were "sorry for any hurt" caused by a controversial video they created to criticise a "racial" advertisement of NETS E-Pay, a local electronic payment service provider. ...

The Income Tax (I-T) Department has conducted search action on a Hyderabad-based businessman Dinesh Alla, who is the CMD of Alphageo (India) Limited, sources said. ...

Singapore authorities have seized 11.9 tonnes of pangolin scales and 8.8 tonnes of elephant ivory from a container being shipped to Vietnam. ...

One qualification spot for the 2019 T20 World Cup Qualifier will be on the line when Singapore, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nepal and Qatar play here from July 22-28. ...

Nine Ind gained entry into the main draw of the women's singles from among the 16 qualifiers to join the three seeds Archana Kamath, Ayhika Mukherjee and Madhurika Patkara in the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships at the Jawaharlal Nehru ...

India may have got the toughest group opponents from among the teams participating in the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships, beginning at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here on Wednesday, but team captain and ace paddler A. Sharth Kam ...

A strong Indian contingent, led by experienced A. Sharath Kamal, would be gunning for the Home Associations Cup in men section when the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships gets underway at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here from Wednes ...