ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships: India men's beat Kazakhstan 3-2 to enter last 16

India’s men’s team beat Kazakhstan 3-2 in a thrilling five-match tie in their Round-of-32 encounter at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024 at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre (BESCO) in South Korea on Wednesday, February 21.

India’s highly experienced trio of Achanta Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, and Harmeet Desai have played a vital role in the nation's campaign at the tournament so far. The three once again played some spectacular table tennis and helped India secure a win against their opponents from Kazakhstan and book a place in the last 16.

The men’s team has had mixed fortunes at the tournament. They went down to South Korea and Poland in two of their group-stage matches while beating New Zealand and Chile in the other two.

A closer look at the Indian men’s team’s tie against Kazakhstan at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024:

The opening match of the tie saw Harmeet Desai take on a much higher-ranked Kirill Gerassimenko of Kazakhstan. The match began with Gerassimenko taking an early 4-1 lead, but the Indian quickly found his rhythm and fought back to level terms. He even went on to close the set 11–9.

The second set saw yet another brilliant start from the Kazakh, but this time he managed to keep his lead up till the very end. 10-6 down, Desai held his nerves to stage a comeback, saving four game points, but the World No. 40 from Kazakhstan retook charge and won the set 12-10.

The manner of play continued in the next three games, with Gerassimenko taking the third 11-8 while Desai took the fourth 11-7. In the final game, Gerassimenko made slightly fewer errors to seal the match 11-8, handing Kazakhstan an early advantage.

The second match of the tie was another nail-biting encounter. India’s highly experienced Achanta Sharath Kamal faced Kazakhstan’s Alan Kurmangaliyev. Kurmangaliyev started the match incredibly strongly, taking the first two games 11-6, 11-7.

Despite being two sets down, the 41-year-old Indian paddler kept his composure and went on to secure the third game, 11-7. The Commonwealth Games medalist seemed unaffected by the scoreline, and using all his experience, Kamal narrowly won the next two sets 13-11, 11-9, leveling the score of the tie.

In the third match, India’s veteran paddler, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran took on Adios Kenzhigulov. Despite dropping the second set, Gnanasekaran beat Kenzhigulov with ease. The final score of the match was 11-6, 5-11, 11-2, 11-7 in favor of the Indian.

The fourth game saw the highly-ranked Kirill Gerassimenko feature once again. The Kazakh paddler once again proved to be a difficult opponent. He beat India’s Achanta Sharath Kamal in a four-set battle with an 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-7 scoreline to level the tie.

The final match of the tie witnessed yet another thrilling four-set encounter. Harmeet Desai was up against Alan Kurmangaliyev. For most of the match, Desai seemed to be in control, but after losing the first two sets, the Kazakh staged a comeback, taking the third game 11-8. But the 30-year-old Indian found his footing once again and sealed the game 11-7, winning the match and tie for India.

The Indian men’s team takes on South Korea, a team they lost to earlier in the tournament, in the pre-quarterfinals later in the day.

Results

India 3-2 Kazakhstan

Harmeet Desai 2-3 Kirill Gerassimenko (11-9, 10-12, 8-11, 11-7, 8-11)

Achanta Sharath Kamal 3-2 Alan Kurmangaliyev (6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 13-11, 11-9)

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 3-1 Adios Kenzhigulov (11-6, 5-11, 11-2, 11-7)

Achanta Sharath Kamal 1-3 Kirill Gerassimenko (4-11, 9-11, 11-6, 7-11)

Harmeet Desai 3-1 Alan Kurmangaliyev (11-6, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7)