Paris Olympics 2024: Indian men's table tennis team exits after defeat to China
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The Indian men's table tennis team faced a formidable challenge and ultimately succumbed to China in the pre-quarterfinals, marking the end of their campaign at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday.
Despite veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal's efforts, India suffered a 0-3 defeat to the dominant Chinese team.
The match began with the Indian duo of Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar losing the opening doubles match 2-11, 3-11, 7-11 to the Chinese pair Ma Long and Chuqin Wang. In the first singles match, Sharath Kamal showed resilience by taking the first game 11-9 against Olympic champion Fan Zhendong. However, Zhendong regrouped and defeated Sharath in the next three games 11-7, 11-7, 11-5, putting India 0-2 behind in the tie.
In the second singles match, 24-year-old Manav Thakkar faced Chuqin Wang and struggled to keep up, losing 9-11, 6-11, 9-11, which sealed the 3-0 victory for China.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Indian women's table tennis team, comprising Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamat, delivered a stellar performance by defeating higher-ranked Romania 3-2 in a thrilling tie to advance to the quarterfinals.