Four medals assured for paddlers

G Sathiyan, Anthony Amalraj, Manika Batra and Mouma Das stormed into the semifinals for a prospective all-India finals as they assured at least four medals from table tennis singles of the 12th South Asian Games here.

Two Sri Lankan opponents remained in between national champion Amalraj and Sathiyan in the semis after the Indians easily advanced without dropping a game in their respective quarters today.

Amalraj thrashed Deep Saun of Nepal 11-7 11-10 11-6 11-5 to set up a last-four clash against Rohan Sirisena, while Sathiyan cruised past Ali Sajad Faisal 11-3 11-5 11-2 11-5 in his best of seven games to book a date with Udaya Ranasinghe.

Women’s quarterfinals were one-sided, with Manika brushing aside Nepal’s Nabita Shreshta and Mouma beat Mueena Mohamed as two Lankan rivals waited for them in the semis as well.