The Indian men’s table tennis team, featuring Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai, and Manav Thakkar, faced a challenging exit from the Paris 2024 Olympics.
They were eliminated in the round of 16 by the top-seeded People’s Republic of China on Tuesday. India, holding the 14th seed, succumbed to a 3-0 defeat in a best-of-five series against the defending champions.
The opening match of the series was the men’s doubles, where Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar faced the formidable duo of Ma Long, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, and Wang Chuqin, the world’s No. 1 singles table tennis player.
The Indian pair was overpowered, losing 3-0 (11-2, 11-3, 11-7). In the second match, Sharath Kamal, India’s top-ranked singles player and Commonwealth Games champion, took on the world No. 2, Fan Zhendong.
Despite a promising start with a win in the first game, Sharath Kamal was ultimately defeated 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 7-11, 5-11). Fan Zhendong went on to secure the men’s singles gold medal at Paris 2024.
Manav Thakkar ranked No. 59 globally, played the third and final match against Wang Chuqin in a do-or-die contest.
Thakkar demonstrated commendable effort, but the superior skill of Wang Chuqin prevailed, resulting in a 3-0 loss (11-9, 11-6, 11-9).
Earlier in the competition, both Harmeet Desai and Sharath Kamal were eliminated in the first round of the men’s singles tournament, while Manav Thakkar only participated in the team event.
In contrast to the men’s team, the Indian women’s table tennis team, consisting of Manika Batra, Sreeja Akula, and Archana Kamath, achieved a remarkable victory. Seeded 11th, they triumphed over the fourth-seeded Romanian team with a 3-2 win in their round of 16 match on Monday.
This stunning victory advanced the Indian women to the quarter-finals, where they are set to face the winner of the match between the USA and Germany on Wednesday.