Tokyo Olympics 2020 table tennis qualifiers: Men's and women's team enter pre-quarterfinals, one step away from Olympic qualification

What's the story?

The Indian men's team handed Luxembourg a 3-0 drubbing in the Round of 32 while the Indian women's team punched above their weight to defeat Sweden 3-2 in the opening round of the Tokyo 2020 World Team Qualification tournament currently taking place in Gondomor, Portugal.

The background

Tokyo Olympics has a total of 16 places each in the Men's and Women's team events. 9 of these places will be decided at the ongoing World Team Qualification tournament. The 8 teams which make it to the quarterfinals will confirm their tickets to Tokyo.

The 8 teams which lose their respective Round of 16 matches still have a chance of making it to Tokyo. They will be pitted against each other in a brand new knockout bracket, the winners of which will secure a berth for the Olympics.

The heart of the matter

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran.

The Indian Men's team comprises Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Anthony Amalraj, Manav Thakkar, and the veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal. They were seeded 5th in the tournament and pitted against 32nd seeded Luxembourg in the opening fixture.

Harmeet Desai and Sharath Kamal began proceedings in the Men's doubles category. They defeated Luxembourg's Giles Michely and Eric Glod 11-9 16-14 11-6 in straight sets, thereby winning the first rubber 3-0.

27-year-old Sathiyan Gnanasekaran was in action in the second rubber. Luxembourg's Mladenovic gave him a tough fight and won the first two sets. The Indian paddler showed his A-game in the next three sets. Eventually, Sathiyan, currently the top-ranked Indian paddler, won the encounter 8-11 9-11 11-3 13-11 11-6 (3-2 overall).

Achanta Sharath Kamal defeated Eric Glod 11-3 11-3 12-14 11-5 (3-1 overall) in the next Singles match to seal the deal. The Indian team won emphatically and progressed to the Round of 16.

Women shine

Meanwhile, the Manika Batra-led Women's team won their opening encounter of the tournament against Sweden.

India did not get off to an ideal start as Archana Girish Kamath and Ayhika Mukherjee lost the first rubber 0-3 to Sweden's Ghristina Kallberg and Matilda Ekholm.

Star paddler Manika Batra was next in action and kept India's hopes alive by defeating Linda Bergstrom 11-4 6-11 11-7 11-7 (3-1 overall) in a well-contest rubber.

The higher ranked Swedish team took the lead for the second time when Matilda defeated Ayhika 11-5 11-13 11-6 11-7 (3-1 overall) in the third rubber.

Manika Batra came to India's rescue yet again. In a nerve-wracking five-set thriller, the 24-year-old defeated Christina 10-12 11-7 9-11 11-4 11-7 (3-2 overall).

The fifth and deciding rubber was another five-set thriller. Archana Girish Kamath did not falter and defeated Linda Bergstrom 11-8 8-11 9-11 11-7 13-11 (3-2 overall). The entire women's team went into a frenzy when Kamath saved two match points and scored the winning point. It could not have gotten any closer towards the end.

What's next?

The fifth-seeded Indian men's team will now lock horns with 11th seeds Slovenia in the pre-quarterfinals. A win here would guarantee the team an Olympic berth.

Meanwhile, the 17th-seeded Indian Women's team will be locking horns with 5th-seeded Romania. Manika Batra and Co. will have to cause another upset to make their way to the quarterfinals.

Manika Batra.