Indian Men’s, Women’s Team Crash Out Of World Table Tennis Championships

Busan: In the ongoing World Team Table Tennis Championships, both the Indian men’s and women’s teams faced defeats, ending their chances at the tournament. The men’s team lost 3-0 to South Korea, while the women’s team suffered a 1-3 loss to Chinese Taipei.

For the men’s team, Harmeet Desai started but couldn’t secure a win against Jang Woojin. Lim Jonghoon then extended South Korea’s lead by defeating Achanta Sharath Kamal. Despite Sathiyan Gnanasekaran’s efforts, India couldn’t turn the tide, losing to Lee Sang Su.

On the women’s side, Manika Batra gave India an early lead with a thrilling victory over Chen Szu-Yu. However, subsequent losses by Sreeja Akula and Ayhika Mukherjee put India on the back foot. Chen I-Ching sealed the win for Chinese Taipei by defeating Manika Batra.

Although both Indian teams missed out on securing an Olympics 2024 quota through this tournament, their Paris 2024 dreams are still alive. Depending on their world ranking at the end of the month, India could still qualify for Paris 2024.

Earlier, both teams had secured spots in the round of 16 stage by defeating Italy and Kazakhstan respectively.

The Indian teams showed promise but fell short in crucial matches, emphasizing the need for continued efforts and strategic improvements moving forward.