Indian women's TT team enters final, assured of medal

Gold Coast, Apr 8 (PTI) The Indian women's table tennis team equalled its best ever performance at the Commonwealth Games by reaching the final here today.

India blanked 3-0 England to set up a summit clash against favourites Singapore later today.

It is the second time the women's team had made a CWG final, having made its maiden appearance in the 2010 edition in Delhi.

Manika batra defeated Kelly Sibley 9-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 in the opening singles while Madhurika Patkar beat Tin-Tin Ho 11-7, 13-11, 10-12, 11-8 to extend the lead.

Patkar returned to action alongside the experienced Mouma Das in the doubles. They outplayed Sibley and Maria Tsaptsinos to seal the issue for India.

"I wasn't even thinking about how I was playing. I was just so pumped and taking the energy and motivation from the bench. We were 1-0 in front and I wanted to go all out to take the team to a 2-0 lead," said Patkar.

"Having the support from the men's team and my own women's team encouraged me to do my very best," she added.

On the final against a formidable Singapore, Das added: ""We would love all your support for tonight's game against Singapore. They are a very good team but we will play our best."

Singapore has been the most dominating side ever since table tennis was inducted into the games' program in 2002