World Team TT Finals: India men crash out in pre-quarterfinals after 0-3 loss to China

The Indian men's table tennis team crashed out of the ITTF World Team Championships Finals 2022 in the round of 16 after a 0-3 loss to top seeds and hosts China, here on Thursday.

National Games 2022 winner Harmeet Desai lost the first game to the world No 1 Fan Zhendong 0-3 (2-11, 9-11, 5-11) despite looking good in the second game.

India's top-ranked men's player Sathiyan Gnanasekaran tried pulling back the momentum against world No 2 Ma Long in the second match. However, after losing the opening game closely, he couldn't recover and lost 0-3 (12-14, 5-11, 0-11).

Later, playing his first match in the tournament, Manush Shah was up against world No. 11 Wang Chuqin in the third rubber. He too lost his match 0-3 (4-11, 5-11, 6-11) in straight games.

The Indian men's table tennis team had advanced to the round of 16 winning three of their four matches in the group stages, including a memorable win over second seeds Germany.

Earlier, the Indian women's team crashed out of the world championships after losing 0-3 to Chinese Taipei in the round of 16 on Wednesday.