World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024: India lose to China despite Ayhika Mukherjee, Sreeja Akula heroics
India went down 3-2 against the Olympic champions in their opening tie. Mukherjee beat world No. 1 Sun Yingsha while Sreeja Akula accounted for world No. 2 Wang Yidi.
Table Tennis
The Indian women’s team, led by Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula, put on a valiant show against the People’s Republic of China in its opening World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals 2024 tie in Busan on Friday but eventually lost 3-2.
Ayhika Mukherjee, who won the bronze medal at the Asian Games last year in doubles, stunned world No. 1 and Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Sun Yingsha 3-1 (10-12, 11-2, 11-13, 6-11) by winning the opening rubber. Mukherjee is ranked 155th in singles.
At the World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals, each tie consists of a maximum of five singles matches. The first team to win three matches wins the tie.
Manika Batra, India’s top-ranked singles player at world No. 36, then lost 3-1 (11-3, 11-8, 13-15, 11-7) to world No. 4 Wang Manyu in the second match of the tie as China levelled the score.
In the third match, Sreeja Akula, world No. 49, punched above her weight to beat world No. 2 Wang Yidi 3-0 (7-11, 9-11, 11-13) and put India ahead once again.
However, China, the reigning Olympic champions, won the final two matches to clinch the tie.
Sun Yingsha got the better of Manika Batra 3-1 (11-3, 11-6, 11-13, 11-9) in the fourth rubber while Wang Manyu downed Ayhika Mukherjee 3-0 (11-9, 13-11, 11-6) to wrap up the tie.
The World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals features two separate events - one for men and the other for women.
The Indian men’s team, led by Commonwealth Games champion Sharath Kamal, will open their campaign against Chile on Saturday. Indian women, meanwhile, will play their next match against Hungary on Sunday.
Up to eight Paris 2024 Olympics team quotas are on offer in each of the two events at the World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals. These will go to nations who reach the quarter-finals in Busan and have not won team quotas previously.
The men’s and women’s Indian table tennis teams are yet to obtain quotas for the Paris Olympics.