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India’s men’s team comfortably beat New Zealand in a thrilling 3-0 victory at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024 at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre in South Korea on Tuesday. With the win, they finished third in their group.
Harmeet Desai, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, and Manush Shah all featured in the victory against New Zealand. Desai and Gnanasekaran won their matches 3-0, completely dominating their opponents.
The Indian men’s team have had mixed results at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships 2024, winning two of their four group-stage matches. However, they finished strong and qualified for the knockout stages.
A closer look at the Indian men’s team’s tie against New Zealand at the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championship 2024
The first match of the tie saw India’s in-form paddler, Harmeet Desai, take on New Zealand’s Timothy Choi. Right from the outset, Desai looked to be the better player, and the 30-year-old Indian completely outplayed Choi, beating him 11-5, 11-1, 11-6 to win the first match for India.
With the momentum in India’s favor, Commonwealth Games gold medalist Sathiyan Gnanasekaran faced off against New Zealand’s Alfred Dela Pena. The highly experienced Indian paddler beat Pena with ease, winning 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 to increase India’s lead.
With India leading 2-0 in the tie, youngster Manush Shah took on Maxwell Henderson from New Zealand. Ranked 170th in the world, the Indian was facing someone much lower than him in the rankings, and the match should have been an easy affair.
However, it was anything but that; Henderson proved to be a much bigger challenge than initially thought. Playing some impressive shots to win the rallies, the paddler from New Zealand quickly accelerated to win the second game after taking the first one in an incredibly close manner.
Two games down, the 23-year-old Indian held his nerves, changed his strategy, and fought back to level terms. He won the third and fourth sets 11-4 and 11-8, respectively, to force a decider. In the final game, Shah did not leave much to chance, capitalizing on every opportunity he got, and he wrapped up the game 11-6, winning the match with a final score of 10-12, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6 to hand India the tie.
The Indian men’s team finished third in their group, behind South Korea and Poland, and qualified for the next stage.
Results
India 3-0 New Zealand
Harmeet Desai 3-0 Timothy Choi (11-5, 11-1, 11-6)
Sathiyan Gnanasekaran 3-0 Alfred Dela Pena (11-3, 11-7, 11-6)
Manush Shah 3-2 Maxwell Henderson (10-12, 6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-6)
