World Team Table Tennis Championships: Indian men's team go down 3-0 to South Korea in  pre-quarterfinals, miss Paris Olympics spot

The Indian men’s paddlers were outplayed once again by their South Korean counterparts. They went down 3-0 in their Round-of-16 clash at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024, taking place at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre (BESCO) in South Korea on Wednesday, February 21.

After finishing third in their group, the Indian men’s team beat Kazakhstan in a thrilling 3-2 victory earlier in the day. India’s Achanta Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran put on some outstanding performances in their respective matches, making a phenomenal comeback against Kazakhstan.

However, the star-studded lineup from South Korea proved to be too strong for the Indian trio.

A closer look at the Indian men’s team’s matchup against South Korea at the World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024

The first match of the tie saw a rematch of the group-stage encounter between Harmeet Desai and Jang Woojin. Unlike the previous match, Desai looked a lot more confident and played freely. He even had a couple of game-point opportunities, but Woojin held on to his nerves and did not allow Desai to win a set.

Despite losing 3-0, Desai played incredibly well, narrowly going down to his South Korean opponent with a much-improved scoreline from his previous match. The final score of the match was 10-12, 11-13, 7-11 in favor of Woojin.

In the second match, India’s most experienced paddler, Achanta Sharath Kamal, took on the World No. 18 from South Korea, Lim Jonghoon. The Indian paddler put up stiff competition in the first game, going down 9-11.

Despite losing the second set 5-11, Kamal kept his composure and hoped to make a similar comeback to his Round-of-32 match against Alan Kurmangaliyev. The Indian great went on to secure the third game 11-8 before being beaten 4-11 in the fourth.

With India down 2-0 in the tie, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran took on Lee Sang Su. The South Korean paddler, ranked 27th, completely outplayed Gnanasekaran to end India’s hope of securing one of the eight Paris Olympics berths on offer at the tournament. However, India can still qualify for the Olympic Games through the world rankings.

This defeat also brought an end to India’s campaign at the 2024 World Team Table Tennis Championships. India’s women’s team lost in the pre-quarterfinals to Chinese Taipei earlier in the day.

Results

India 0-3 South Korea

Harmeet Desai 0-3 Jang Woojin (10-12, 11-13, 7-11)

Achanta Sharath Kamal 1-3 Lim Jonghoon (9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 4-11)

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 0-3 Lee Sang Su (5-11, 8-11, 2-11)