Veteran paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal led his team to a dramatic 3-2 win against Croatia in the World Team Table Tennis Championship in Sweden on Tuesday, to keep India’s hopes of making it to the playoff stages for the first time alive.
The Indian team was down 0-2 in the tie after defeats in the first two matches for Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan, but Harmeet Desai fought back in the third match to bring his team back into the tie. Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal then made amends for their earlier defeats as India pulled off a come-from-behind win in the Group D encounter.
Sharath Kamal, who has been in prime form at the tournament, came into the tie against Croatia undefeated in his four matches. But against the world No 39 Andrej Gacina, he went down 11-5, 8-11, 9-11, 9-11. India’s top-ranked paddler Sathiyan then suffered a shock defeat against world No 89 Tomislav Pucar, going down 11-7, 5-11, 13-15, 7-11.
It was then a do-or-die situation for Harmeet Desai who needed all five games to defeat Frane Kojic 11-3, 8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7. That win seemed to spur on the Indian side as Sathiyan, then, defeated Croatia’s top-ranked player Gacina 12-10, 12-10, 11-7.
It was then up to Sharath Kamal in the final match of tie against Pucar. The Indian took an early 2-0 lead but the Croatian fought back to take the third and fourth games. Sharath Kamal held on in the end to record a 11-8, 11-8, 10-12, 10-12, 11-5 to give India the tie.
Earlier in the tournament, India had lost 2-3 to France and 3-0 to South Korea, while defeating Poland 3-2.
On Wednesday, Sharath Kamal and Co take on Austria in their final Group D game. If India win this tie, while Korea and France defeat Croatia and Poland respectively, a place in the round of 16 is assured.
Women’s team loses again
The women’s team lost their final group game, going down 3-0 against Belarus. The trio of Mouma Das, Manika Batra and Madhurika Patra lost their respective matches as the Indian finished fourth in group A without a win to their name, behind China, Singapore and Russia. India will play Luxembourg in the knockout phases to determine who finishes 13th to 24th in the championship division.