The Indian women’s team edged out Uzbekistan 3-0, while the men's team suffered consecutive defeats, including a loss to South Korea, in the World Table Tennis Team Championships held in Busan on February 19.
Archana and Diya emerged triumphant
Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula were given a break from the matches, creating an opportunity for Archana Kamath and Diya Chitale to step in. Both Archana and Diya emerged victorious in their respective singles matches, while senior player Manika Batra also secured a comfortable win against her opponent, resulting in a 3-0 victory for India.
Archana defeated Rimma Gufranov 11-7, 11-3, 11-6, while Manika defeated Markhabo Magdieva 11-7, 11-4, 11-1.
Meanwhile, Diya faced tough competition but ultimately triumphed over Rozalina Khadjieva 11-6, 10-12, 11-4, 11-6.
After beginning their campaign with a 2-3 loss to China, the Indian women's team has now secured two consecutive wins, placing them in the second spot in the Group 1 standings.
Their next match is against Spain in the final Group 1 league fixture on February 20. Previously, they defeated Hungary with a score of 3-2.
Setbacks for Men's Team
Meanwhile, the men's team, consisting of veteran Sharath Kamal, reigning national champion Harmeet Desai, and G Sathiyan, suffered defeats in their respective singles matches, resulting in a meek loss in their third group stage match against third seeds Korea.
Harmeet, India's top-ranked player at 67, faced a defeat against world number 14 Jang Woojin 4-11, 10-12, 8-11.
Following that, Sathiyan suffered a loss to world number 16 Lim Jonghoon 5-11, 7-11, 7-11.
Although Sharath managed to win the second game, he couldn't maintain the momentum and lost 9-11, 11-8, 6-11, 5-11 to Lee San Su.
After securing victory in their opening match against Chile, the Indian men's team experienced a 1-3 defeat to Poland on February 18.
(Powered by AI, inputs from PTI)
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