ITTF World Team Championship Finals 2022 | Indian women's team makes it to knockouts after win over Egypt
The Indian women's team qualified for the knockout stages, as they entered the round of 16, after beating Egypt 3-1 at the ITTF World Team Championship Finals 2022 in Chengdu, China on Monday. CWG gold medalist Sreeja Akula started with a win over Hana Goda 3-0 (11-6, 11-4, 11-1).
Former CWG champion Manika Batra barely won her match against Dina Meshref 3-2 (8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 2-11, 11-8) victory. Youngster Diya Chitale, on the other hand, lost against Yousra Helmy 2-3 (11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 9-11, 4-11). Lastly, Akula wrapped up the tie with a 3-1 win over Meshref.
The win now means that the women's team finished second in Group 5 with five points, behind Germany. The men's team too has almost assured themselves of a spot in the round of 16 with a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan in their third Group 2 tie. CWG bronze-medallist Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Denis Zholudev 3-0 (11-1, 11-9, 11-5) in the first match. The world No.28 Kirill Gerassimenko won 3-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-9) against Harmeet Desai.
Manav Thakkar, who is ranked 142nd in the world, then performed admirably for India by defeating Ricardo Walther, who is ranked 68 positions above him, 3-1. (13-11, 6-11, 11-8, 12-10). In an exciting finish to the match, the in-form G Sathiyan defeated Qiu Dang 3-2 (10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9) to give India the victory. G Sathiyan was 2-0 down in the rubber at one point.