Table Tennis, Paris 2024 Olympics Highlights, August 6: China beats India 3-0 to enter men’s team quarterfinal

The men’s team on debut at Paris 2024 loses in the round of 16 against first seed China. Head on to our Paris 2024 page to catch the live action across other sports.

Wang with the first point on serve. Thakkar plays it below the table and the change of pace is back as the Indian gets his second point. Score’s level 3-3 at the first towel break. Thakkar stoops and loops the netball in with a heavy chop. A defensive exchange culminates into a netball bouncing out of the board. India takes a timeout at 7-6. Wang squares it all up at 8-8 and he will take the lead as well. Wait, it’s back at 9-9 as we head into the towel break. Thakkar to serve. Wang sets up the matchpoint. The chop flies long and CHINA ENTERS THE QUARTERFINAL WITH A 3-0 VICTORY OVER INDIA.

Heavy spin again and Thakkar takes the opening two points off his own serve. Aggression from Wang as he sends in three strong forehands. Thakkar ends up dropping points in the rally. The wide reach of Wang helps him get another point. Thakkar jumps into a 5-4 lead with a subtle change of pace. Wang to reserve after hitting the net. The topspin is forced into the backhand corner and now it is four gamepoints for Wang. Wang gets a two-game advantage.

A backhand inside the table and Thakkar has tied it up. 8-8. And another! The Indian crowd has found its voice back. A soft flip and it’s all square at 9-9 again. Wang takes it as Thakkar’s soft hands sees the ball balloon out of the table.

Wang to take on Thakkar in the third match. The coin toss is out of the way and we get into preparation time. The World No. 1 gets the first points on the board. Thakkar gets the point on service. Thus far, the servers have won all the points. The trend doesn’t stay for long. Wang meets the heavy spin with a wide forehand that sails wide of Thakkar. Wang and Thakkar have played twice before and on both those occasions the Chinese took the points home. Wang handles the tomahawk well, pushing it straight down the table. Thakkar lobs the World No. 1 and Wang misses the smash by a mile! No one would have expected that to happen. The timeout has been taken!

Fan running away with the deciding game. A wonderful rally sees Sharath unleash a bullet of a backhand to take the second point. Fan forces Sharath to go the opposite way and that will be one more point for the Chinese athlete. Sharath finds the net now; keeps going from bad to worse. A rare chop-block from Fan, which Sharath manages to return, much to the Indians’ credit. China 2-0 up against India.

Down the middle and it finds the edge of Sharath’s paddle. Five game points for Fan! A forehand catches the net and goes out. That will save another game point. Eventually, China takes the third game and it is 2-1 in favour of Fan.

The Chinese athletes have switched to using a harder sponge with a rubber sheet on the forehand side of their paddles that aids in speedy returns and lesser bounce, the commentators inform. Sharath, meanwhile, has slightly edged Fan to move to 5-4 in the third game. A swipe from Sharath glides out long. The right idea but he messes up the timing.

Three gamepoints for Fan! Sharath anticipates a forehand but a parallel backhand sees him lose the second game.

Two consecutive points for Sharath Kamal. A curveball from Fan, quite literally. Sharath didn’t see it coming. Sharath drives one deep into the baseline and Fan gets the top edge, which sends the ball flying away. 6-3 to Fan now; had seen a similar scoreline in Game 1. A forehand-backhand battle sees Sharath thrive. A constant change of trajectory until Sharath swerves the other way. A rare show of frustration from Sharath Kamal as he messes up a return. Sharath’s backhand crashes onto the nets as Fan gets into a comfortable lead right now. A soft flick and Sharath won’t take the bait. He hits a measured return right into the Chinese athlete’s body. A timeout has been taken!

It’s level once again at 7-7 as Sharath gets one along the baseline. Fan gets the counter all right as the Chinese athlete sends one straight down the centre, cramping Sharath for the return. A forehand almost crashes onto Fan’s ribs. Sharath has the game point! This is unbelievable stuff from the Indian superstar. Sharath takes Game 1 from the Olympic gold medallist.

Right down the line from Sharath! Fan doesn’t look very happy with his effort. Sharath employs his backhand again to take the lead momentarily. It’s all square ahead of the exchange of service.

Olympic gold medallist Fan Zhendong and Sharath Kamal gear up for the second match. Sharath Kamal opens the scoring. Nice placement from Fan, who plays one to Sharath’s elbow to have him trapped in the crossover. A sharp backhand will see Sharath steal another point.

Wang’s deft footwork followed by a sharp smash across the table sees Thakkar miss the trajectory completely. Three match points saved as Wang’s forehand goes long. But they will take the match, nevertheless. CHINA 1-0 UP!

A quick change of pace from Thakkar as he sees Ma Long back pedal. The chat with Costantini seems to have helped.

The commentators point out that a wide return to Ma Long’s forehand is pretty much his only Achilles’ heel since the Chinese athlete’s injury. We will have a timeout. Costantini in an animated chat with the boys.

The Indian duo looks clueless against Wang’s fiery forehand. Ma Long’s massive sidespin only adds to worries. A banana flick - hint of top spin and side spin - from Wang right after India wins the first point. Eight game points... This is embarrassing. China takes Game 2.

Harmeet serves. A stylish forehand flick from Wang and India’s Thakkar has no answers for that move. China wins game 1.

Wang serves and Harmeet fails to read the slow spin. It’s floated out of bounds. Soft hands from Ma Long and Thakkar ends up pushing this out. The Chinese are running away with the game.

Ma Long serves to Harmeet. India opens the scoring. Ma Long unleashes the wide forehand and it will be two consecutive points for China.

Harmeet and Thakkar limber up alongside Massimo Costantini, the High Performance director. Sharath, meanwhile, watches the Chinese gear up. The Indian pair wins the toss of the coin and Harmeet chooses to receive. We will have two minutes of preparation time.

Harmeet Desai and Manav Thakkar will go up against Ma Long and Wang Chuqin in the first match. The Coups debâtons ceremony signals the start of the best-of-five event.

Riding on her killer instinct to win, paddler Manika Batra recorded victory in both her singles matches, including the high-pressure decider against Adina Diaconu, as India, playing for the first time as a team, recorded a superb 3-2 win over a higher-placed Romania in the women’s team pre-quarterfinals of the Olympics at the South Paris Arena on Monday.

Manika, who became the first Indian to reach the last-16 stage, bounced back from her disappointing loss in the singles pre-quarterfinals to shoulder the responsibility with composure.

Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath gave India a positive start by winning the opening match against Adina Diaconu and Elizabeta Samara 11-9, 12-10, 11-7 in the doubles.

The duo coordinated well and secured the first two games even after getting a good challenge from the Romanians. The Indians erased two-point deficits in second and third games on their way to victory.

World No. 28 Manika made it 2-0 as she punched above her weight to upset 10th-ranked Bernadette Szocs 11-5, 11-7, 11-7 in the singles encounter.

Manika used her fine forehands to race away from 5-5 and pocket the opening game. Then she displayed more control, varying the pace of her shots, to take the second and benefitted from the Romanian’s errors in the third.

In the second singles, Sreeja frittered away her leads twice to lose to Elizabeta. Sreeja was not comfortable against the left-hander and made mistakes. In the decider, Sreeja played some excellent shots to catch up with Elizabeta, but the Romanian regained her lead and ultimately won the contest.

Archana fought back to win the second game and level the match against Bernadette but could not maintain her game.

Learning from her past mistake, Manika rose to the challenge in the decider and did not disappoint her teammates. Varying her shots, Manika executed some spectacular drives and backhand drop shots to surge ahead against Diaconu. The Romanian gave a tough challenge by exhibiting smart shots in second and third games, but could not stop the Indian ace.

“We played with confidence and started really well with doubles. That gave me confidence. I am really happy how we all supported and cheered each other and played our best games,” Manika told Sportstar.

“I made the same mistake in 2019, we lost against Romania in the deciding match. I lost my last match, but this time I was focusing only on one point and on the match and that really helped me. I was more calm and confident this time. With Berni, I recently lost, but this match was unbelievable for me because I played amazing today... I handled that pressure really well (in the last match).”

Coach Massimo Costantini was delighted with Manika’s effort. “Her entire game is to be patient. Every time she rushes, there is a risk of making mistakes. She managed very well. She did some proper variation. Her game is to confuse the opponent. So, the more you vary, the better you will be. The doubles win was crucial,” said Costantini.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of table tennis in Paris 2024! Both the men’s and women’s teams are making a debut appearance in the Summer Games. While the women made history earlier, securing a place in the quarterfinals after defeating reigning European Games champion Romania, the men, seeded 14th, will find it a tad bit more difficult as it goes up against first seed China.