ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships: India women's beat Spain 3-2 to qualify for the next round

India’s women’s team beat Spain in a thrilling 3-2 victory at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024 at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre in South Korea on Tuesday.

After going 0-2 down, the Indian paddlers made an impressive comeback to win three matches on the trot. Sreeja Akula, Ayhika Mukherjee, and Manika Batra all contributed to the team’s victory.

The Indian women’s team are having a dream run in their campaign at the tournament. They were on the verge of beating China in their first tie before getting the better of Hungary, Uzbekistan, and Spain to finish second in their group and qualify for the next stage.

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A closer look at the Indian women’s team’s tie against Spain at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024

The tie began with India’s Sreeja Akula taking on Spain’s Xiao Maria in the first match. Akula has been in incredible form of late and defeated World No. 2 from China in an earlier encounter.

In the match against Maria, Akula started off proceedings with several impressive shots. But the Spanish paddler countered Akula’s smashes with some phenomenal shots of her own. The first two sets saw some seesaw battles, with both players taking one game each at a score of 11-9. The third set too saw both players go neck and neck, but Maria held on to her nerves and won the game 13-11 before comfortably beating Akula in the fourth game 11-4 to win the match.

The second game saw India’s most experienced woman paddler, Manika Batra, go up against Sofia-Xuan Zhang. Filled with intense rallies and awe-inspiring shots, neither paddler seemed to let a single ball fall on their side. However, after almost 40 minutes, Zhang emerged victorious by making slightly fewer errors than Batra. She beat Manika Batra with an 11-13, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11 scoreline.

With India 0-2 down, Ayhika Mukherjee, who has had a brilliant tournament so far, locked horns with Elvira Rad. Mukherjee, who caused the biggest upset of the tournament by beating the current World No. 1, was given a tough fight by Rad in the third match of the tie. But the 26-year-old Indian kept her composure in the nail-biting five-set battle, eventually winning 11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4 and changing the momentum of the match.

The fourth match saw Manika Batra feature once again. The 28-year-old paddler built on Mukherjee’s win and completely outplayed Xiao Maria, winning the match in straight sets.

In the deciding match of the tie, 25-year-old Sreeja Akula took on Sofia-Xuan Zhang. The World No. 49 from India started the match on a strong note, winning the first game 11-6. The second game saw Zhang fight back and level things. With the match level at 1-1, the third game saw both players take points alternately until 6-5, where Zhang took a medical timeout.

The Spanish paddler was visibly in discomfort and appeared to be struggling post the break. Akula capitalized on this opportunity and took four consecutive points to reach game point. She ultimately closed the game at 11-6. The next set saw her deploy some beautiful attacking shots, and the Indian paddler won the game without much hassle. Akula wrapped up the match 11-6, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3, helping India win the tie 3-2.

The Indian women’s team finished second in their group, just behind China, and qualified for the next stage.

Results

India 3-2 Spain

Sreeja Akula 1-3 Xiao Maria (9-11, 11-9, 11-13, 4-11)

Manika Batra 2–3 Sofia-Xuan Zhang (11-13, 11-6, 11-8, 9-11, 7-11)

Ayhika Mukherjee 3-2 Elvira Rad (11-8, 11-13, 11-8, 9-11, 11-4)

Manika Batra 3-0 Xiao Maria (11-9, 11-2, 11-4)

Sreeja Akula 3-1 Sofia-Xuan Zhang (11-6, 11-13, 11-6, 11-3)