Indian paddlers will have a taste of international competition post the Tokyo Olympics when the main draw of the World Table Tennis (WTT) Contender Budapest begins here on Tuesday.
First time in Europe
This is the first WTT event to be held in Europe. India’s top paddler Sharath Kamal has opted to skip the tournament.
India’s G. Sathiyan and Manika Batra, seeded fourth and sixth in the men’s and women’s singles respectively, will be hoping to have a good tournament.
Sathiyan will take on France’s Can Akkuzu in the first round while Manika clashes with Sabine Winter of Germany.
In mixed doubles, Sathiyan and Manika will take on Archana Kamath and Manav Thakkar in the first round.
The third-seeded duo of Harmeet Desai and Manav, Sanil Shetty-S. Snehit will feature in men’s doubles.
Other Indians in the singles’ main draw include Harmeet Desai, Manav in men’s and Archana in women’s.
The top seeds
Liam Pitchford of England (World No. 14) is the top seed in men’s singles followed by Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna (21). Ruwen Filus of Germany (35) is seeded third.
Xiaoxin Yang of Monaco (44) is the top seed in women’s singles and Polina Mikhailova of Russia is second.