Both the Indian teams were knocked out of the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.
While the Indian women’s tea suffered a 1-3 loss to Chinese Taipei, the Indian men were beaten 0-3 by hosts South Korea.
The Indian women’s team started off well in the tie as the country’s top ranked paddler Manika Batra got the better of former world No 10 Chen Szu-Yu 11-8, 8-11, 4-11, 11-9, 11-9 in a come from behind victory.
However, that remained India’s only win in the knockout tie as Chinese Taipei won the next three matches to move into the quarter-finals.
If Sreeja Akula lost 6-11, 9-11, 5-11 in straight games to world No 10 Chen I-Ching, Ayhika Mukherjee, who had defeated world No 1 Sun Yingsha in the group stage, went down 10-12, 13-15, 11-9, 2-11 to a higher-ranked Li Yu-Jhun as Chinese Taipei took a 2-1 lead.
With a spot in the quarter-finals at stake, Batra put her best foot forward against I-Ching but lost 10-12, 11-5, 9-11, 5-11 to crash out of the competition.
Unlike the women, the Indian men weren’t able to win a single match in the tie with Harmeet Desai losing 0-3 (10-12, 11-13, 7-11) to Jang Woojin and G Sathiyan losing 0-3 (5-11, 8-11, 2-11) to Lee Sang Su. However, veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal provided a slight bit of hope when he won the third game of his encounter against Lim Jonghoon, but ultimately lost 1-3 (9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 4-11).
The losses against Chinese Taipei and South Korea also brought an end to India’s direct qualification hopes for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. They, however, can still qualify based on their world rankings at the end of the World Championships at the end of February.
Earlier in the day, the Indian women’s team had defeated Italy 3-0 in a Round of 32 clash as Akula, Batra, and Mukherjee all registered victories to qualify for the pre-quarterfinals.
The Indian men’s team, on the other hand, had to work hard for a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan in the Round of 32 after Harmeet Desai and Achanta Sharath Kamal lost one of their two matches.