The Indian men’s and women’s table tennis teams advanced to the round of 24 of the World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals 2024 in Busan, the Republic of Korea, by winning their respective final group matches on Tuesday. The Indian women’s team, captained by Manika Batra, overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat Spain 3-2. The men’s team advanced in style as they beat New Zealand 3-0. The victories advanced both Indian teams to the next round of play-offs.
Following the competition format, the top eight teams from each group advanced directly to the round of 16. While the second and third-place teams from each group will now face off in the round of 24 to secure a spot in the top 16.
With victories over Hungary, Spain, and Uzbekistan and a defeat to the Olympic champions, the People’s Republic of China, the Indian women were placed second in Group 1. For third place in Group 3, the Indian men defeated Chile and New Zealand but lost to South Korea and Poland.
In the Women’s group, Sreeja Akula and Manika Batra lost their opening matches but fought back against Spain to defeat them 3-2.
The Men’s team dominated opponents New Zealand. Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manush Shah won their matches convincingly to send New Zealand packing.
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