CWG table tennis: Indian women assure themsleves of silver

NEW DELHI - The Indian women’s table tennis team Thursday outclassed fancied England to reach their maiden final at the Commonwealth Games and assured themselves of a medal.

The Indians blanked the second seed England 3-0 in what turned out be a one-sided affair at a packed show court of the Yamuna Sports Complex.

Indian chief coach Massimo Constantini praised the team for the result but singled out Shamini Kumaresan as the star of the tournament for her consistent wins against higher-ranked opponents from England and Australia.

Shamini, who was instrumental in India’s victory against Australia Wednesday, was again seen in great form. She came from one game down to beat Kelly Sibley 7-11, 11-4, 11-8 in the first singles.

Mouma Das, recovered from Wednesday’s loss to Australian Fang Jian Lay and defeated Joanna Parker 11-3, 11-8, 11-7.

Mouma, the highest ranked Indian on the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) circuit at 211, did not let defender Joanna settle down one bit and negated her spin by hitting smashes with ease.

Poulomi Ghatak comfortably beat another English defender Hannah Hicks and closed out the match.

Constantini attributed India’s win to rigorous practice.

We knew England had a lot of defenders so the girls practised specifically for them in training camps in China. I must say it has paid off, Constantini told IANS.

The hosts now play current World Champions Singapore, who beat Malaysia 3-0, in the first semi-final.