India men lose to China in World Team Table Tennis Championships

World No.1 Fan Zhendong beat Harmeet Desai 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 in the first rubber. G. Sathiyan stretched World No.2, Ma Long before falling short.

File picture: India’s No.1 paddler G. Sathiyan stretched World No.2, Ma Long before falling short. | Photo Credit: AP

Host and top seed China thrashed India 3-0 in the men’s pre-quarterfinals of the World team table tennis championships on Thursday.

World No.1 Fan Zhendong beat Harmeet Desai 11-2, 11-9, 11-5 in the first rubber. Harmeet matched Fan in the second game and made it 9-9 before Fan raced away with the match.

India's No.1 paddler G. Sathiyan stretched World No.2, Ma Long, in the first game, attacking at every opportunity. Once Sathiyan lost a close first game at 12-14, he lost his momentum and the next two games at 5-11, 0-11.

Playing his first match in the tournament, Manush Shah lost to World No.11 Wang Chuqin and lost in three straight games.

The result (pre-quarterfinals):

Men: China bt India 3-0 (Fan Zhendong bt Harmeet Desai 11-2, 11-9, 11-5; Ma Long bt G. Sathiyan 14-12, 11-5, 11-0; Wang Chuqin bt Manush Shah 11-4, 11-5, 11-6).