NEW DELHI: India's men's table tennis team started their World Table Tennis Team Championships campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory over Chile in Busan, Korea on Saturday.
Sharath Kamal, ranked 95 globally, set the tone with a dominant 11-5, 11-8, 11-6 win over Nicholas Burgos, who is ranked 53rd in the world. Following suit, Harmeet Desai, India's top-ranked paddler and reigning national champion, secured a comfortable 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 victory against Gustavo Gomez.
G Sathiyan faced some resistance in the first game from Olivares Felipe but managed to clinch the tie with a 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 victory.
This win places India in third position in Group 3 with 2 points, trailing behind South Korea with 4 points and Chile with 3 points, both having played two ties each.
Upcoming matches for the Indian men's team include Poland on Sunday, South Korea on Monday, and New Zealand on Tuesday.
The Indian women's team is also scheduled to compete against Hungary on Sunday. In a noteworthy performance on Friday, Ayhika Mukherjee and Sreeja Akula stunned the world's top two players, Sun Yingsha and Wang Yidi, in their respective singles matches.
However, despite their efforts, the Indian women's team narrowly lost to China in their opening tie.
(With PTI inputs)
