World Team Championships: Indian men enter last-16, face tough Chinese test

Chengdu, October 4

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The Indian men’s team advanced to the pre-quarterfinals despite losing 0-3 to France at the World Team Table Tennis Championship here today.

The Indians escaped elimination by the skin of their teeth, entering the Round of 16 as one of the higher-ranked best-placed third teams in the group stage.

As a change of strategy, India opened with Manav Thakkar against world No. 30 Alexis Lebrun, who beat the Indian 6-11 8-11 8-11.

On the back foot, world No. 37 G Sathiyan took on Felix Lebrun in the second tie, but the 86th-ranked Frenchman punched above his weight to pummel the Indian in straight games to win 11-4 11-2 11-6 and put his side 2-0 up.

Harmeet Desai also failed to withstand the pressure despite putting up a fight against Jules Rolland, who won 11-13 13-11 7-11 11-8 11-7 in the gripping third rubber to put France on the top of the table in their group.

With three teams — France, Germany and India — finishing on same points (7) with three wins and one loss each, France got the top position by the merit of their head-to-head win over India.

However, India’s 0-3 loss enabled Germany, who beat France 3-1 on Monday, to take the second spot in the group.

The two higher-ranked teams that finished third in their groups filled the two vacant slots in the top 16-team knockout stage.

India qualified for the pre-quarterfinals as Romania — the other team in contention for the spot — is ranked lower in the world standings. India will next face top seeds China.

The Indian women’s team has also made it through to the Round of 16.