4 Indians in main draw: World TT

Olympians Chetan Baboor, Mouma Das, along with Sharath Kamal and Montu Das, kept the Indian challange alive in the World table tennis championships, in Paris, all moving into the main draw.

Three-time Olympian Chetan Baboor proved too formidable for Ruddy Raga of Aruba, reducing the match to a no-contest as he emerged an 11-9, 11-9,11-7,11-7 winner to record his second successive victory in his group.

Baboor's compatriot, Sharath Kamal, also scored a straight-games win over Lithuania's Arturas Orlovas, winning 11-4, 11-4, 13-11, 12-10. Kamal too scored his second win in the three-player group.

The Indians face tough opponents in their next assignments.

Baboor takes on Toshio Tasaki of Japan while Sharath faces French challenger Chistophe Legoutance for a place in the quarter-finals.

In the women's section, Olympian Mouma Das and Mantu Ghosh resistered contrasting victories on their way to the main draw.

Mouma overcame stiff resistance from Manzura Inoyatova before emerging a 12-10, 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 winner.

In another match, down 0-2, Mantu Das waged a grim battle and staged a remarkable rally to oust Elmira Aliyeva 8-11, 4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 6-11, 11-5, 11-5.

Another Indian, T Pradeepa, scored an inconsequential victory over Peri Campbell of Austria 11-9, 13-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-10. The Indian girl had already lost a match in her group and hence failed to qualify.

Mouma Das faces Georgina Pota (Hungary) and Mantu Ghosh meets Yaolin Jing (China) in their next matches.

UNI